HERBERT  VIVIAN 


BLVM 
ENTH 


RIS 


T  U  N  I  S  I A 


TUNISIA 

and  the 

Modern   Barbary  Pirates 

BY    HERBERT    VIVIAN    M.A 


AUTHOR  ui"  "SKKVIA:  THK  I-UOK 

PARADISIC,"    ETC.     LTC. 


ILLUSTRATED    WITH    HIOTOGRAI'lIS    AND    A    MAI- 


NE \V    YORK 

LONGMANS,    GRKKN    &    CO 
1899 


SRLF 
«RL 


To 
MY      FATHER 

THIS    YOI.UME    IS    MOST   AlTKl'TIOXATKl.Y 

DEDICATED 


Preface 

THE  authorities  0:1  Tunisia  arc  not  worth  enumerating. 
Those  in  English  belong  to  a  former  generation ; 
those  in  French  are  prejudiced  and  stupid.  •  A 
Frenchman  is  either  an  hireling  scribe,  glorifying 
the  blunders  of  his  country  under  the  specious  nick- 
name of  civilization,  or  a  tedious  tourist,  whose  soul 
cannot  soar  above  the  details  of  his  provender  and 
his  flea-bites.  He  will  exclaim  over  a  telegraph 
pole  or  squander  sentiment  upon  the  memory  of  a 
sandwich,  but  for  instruction,  description,  wit  or 
common  sense  we  must  look  elsewhere. 

Accordingly,   I   may  claim  to  cover  new  ground. 

It  is  possible  that  I  may  be  deemed  pessimistic,  but 
I  am  at  the  least  unprejudiced.  I'ntil  I  had  travelled 
into  the  interior  of  Tunisia,  I  was  disposed  to  believe 
that  the  French  might  be  doing  a  work  feebly  analo- 
gous to  our  own  in  India  and  F.gypt.  Care  was 


viii  PREFACE 

taken  that  the  worst  scandals  should  be  withheld 
from  my  observation,  but  I  have  now  seen  enough 
to  convince  me  that  the  administration  of  Tunisia 
is  as  rotten  as  that  of  the  French  Republic. 

My  book  serves  three  purposes,  (i)  It  will  be 
an  indispensable  companion  to  those  travellers  who 
are  tired  of  the  beaten  European  track  and  desire  to 
see  something  of  golden  Africa  and  a  race  of  native 
gentlemen.  I  do  not  love  tourists,  but  I  believe  I 
shall  have  served  them  faithfully,  even  though  I  only 
persuade  them  to  remain  away.  (2)  Much  more 
important,  I  have  exposed  Lord  Salisbury's  deplorable 
sacrifice  of  British  prestige  and  commerce;  I  have 
indicated  a  possible  avenue  to  retrieving  lost  oppor- 
tunities and  eventually  ousting  the  modern  Barbary 
pirates,  the  inheritors  of  the  selfish  traditions  of  Rome, 
from  a  land  where  they  have  unwarrantably  trespassed. 
(3)  I  have  paid  a  tribute  to  the  last  survivors  of  that 
grand  mediaeval  race,  which  has  bequeathed  to  us 
whatever  civilization  we  may  possess  and  which  shall 
yet,  inshallah,  live  to  restore  a  portion  of  its  departed 
glories. 

I  crave  special  attention  for  the   passages  referring 


PREFACE  ix 

to  the  caravan  trade  across  the  Sahara.  To  the 
fascinating  subject  of  Tripoli  I  hope  I  may  return 
later  on. 

My  acknowledgments  are  due  to  the  editors  of 
the  Morning  Post,  Contemporary  Review,  Pear  son  s 
Magazine,  Badminton  Magazine,  Idler,  Queen  and 
]Vorld  for  permission  to  reproduce  portions  of  articles, 
with  which  I  have  edified  their  readers. 

V. 

TANGIER,  \st  January,  1899. 


Contents 


I'Adt 

PREFACE vii 

Historical    Introduction 

The  Berbers  of  Lybia — The  Cartliaginians  (B.C.  1400-146)  — A  Roman 
Province  (i:.c.  I46-A.D.  439) — The  Vandals  (A.D.  439-533) — The 
By/antines  (A.D.  533-698)— The  Arabs  (A.n.  698-1573)— The  Beys 
A.D.  1573-1881) r 

Chapter    I 
THE  BEV 

The  Prisoner  of  Marsa  —  A  Fren;h  Puppet  —  A  State  Prisoner  —  The 
Puppet's  Shadow  of  State — Appearance — The  Heir  —  A  Modern 
Sovereign — The  Palace  at  Marsa — The  Bodyguard — The  Gardens  - 
The  Menagery — The  Palace  at  Tunis — The  Baido  .  .  .  .11 

Chapter    II 

THE    MODERN    BARBARV    PIRATES 

French  Administration—  Finance  —  Taxes  —  Army — Unlike  Algeria  — 
Tunisia  lias  an  Astute  Despotism— The  Official  Version — Is  highly 
coloured — Exactions  of  Officials — A  Great  ( lulf  Fixed — Travel  Hindered 
— Spy-Mania  —  Communications — 'Camp  Followers,  not  Colonists — 
Vexatious  Custom-I  louses — The  Future  of  the  Country — Our  Lost 
Opportunity  ...........  27 

Chapter    1 1 1 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNINC, 

Arabs:  (i)  of  Tunis  and  the  Coast — Costume  —  Houses— 1.2  \  <>f  tin- 
Interior — Types — Dwellings — Industries  —  Costume — (3)  <>f  the  Oa*es- 
Costume— Dwellings — Industries — Troglodytes  —  Home  Life—  I  larem* 
— Vulgari/ing  by  Civilization — Women's  Rights — Marriage— Divorce 
— Funerals  — -  Food  — Water-Drinking — Drugs  —  Of  learning  Arabic 
— Greetings — Curses— Proverbs  .  .  .  ....  46 


xii  CONTENTS 

Chapter    IV 

ISLAM 

I'AGE 

Conversion  to  Islam  —  Mosques  —  Graveyards  —  Ramadan  —  Bairam  — 
Drunken  Moslems— Photography — The  Aissawas — Shrines  and  Seers 
—The  Merabut  of  Baghdad— The  Story  of  a  Jinn — Amulets — Fortune- 
tellers   92 

Chapter    V 

JEWS    AND    NIGGERS 

The  Jews  of  Tunis — "Leghorns" — Industries — Nomad  Camp-followers — 
Education  —  Rapacity  —  Anti-Semitic  Riots  —  Organization  —  Poor- 
La  ws — Law-Giving — The  Jewish  Quarter — Houses — Religion — Ritual 
— Saints— Guardian  Angels— The  Sabbalh— Missions  to  Jews— Food — 
The  Family— A  Wedding— A  Funeral— Literature  and  Art— Negroes  .  118 


Chapter    VI 
IN    AND    OUT    OF    TUNIS 

Arrival — First  Impressions — Streets— Shops — A  Street  Story-teller—Snake- 
charmers — The  French  Quarter — Accommodation — Food — An  Anglican 
Church — Beggars— Marsa—  Carthage  .......  144 

Chapter   VII 

THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER 

The  Interior  —  Accommodation  —  Fonduks  — Vermin  —  Fantasias — Art — 
Bicycles  —  An  Itinerary — Tunis  to  Susa — Susa — Susa  to  Kairwfm — 
Kairwan— Sabra — Susa  to  Sfax  — El-Jem— Sfax  — Fortifications— Gabes 
—A  Sandstorm—  Wells— Jerba— Sbeitla— Thala— El-  Kef—  Bcja— The 
Mejerda  — Dugga — Bixerta  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .184 

Chapter    VIII 

TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE 

Vulture-Princes  —  Bazaars  —  Industries  —  Saddlery  —  Sheshias  —  Dyeing- 
Tanners —  Carpets — Perfumes — Arms — Potteries — Haifa-Grass — Trade 
with  the  interior  —  Rhadames— Rhat — The  Tuaregs — Agricultural 
Methods — Habbus — Wells — The  Cactus — Vines— Olives — Fisheries — 
Sponges — Pulps  ..........  236 


CONTENTS  xiii 

Chapter    IX 

JUSTICE    AND    EDUCATION 

PAGE 

Justice  -The  Court  of  the  Kadi — The  Governor  of  Tunis — Public  Execu- 
tions—Prisons— The  Right  of  Sanctuary — Capital  Punishment — The 
Paradise  of  Criminals  —  Police  Precautions  —  Modern  Solomons  — 
Education — Sadiki  College — Alawi  College  .....  272 

Chapter    X 

BEASTS    AND    FEATHERED  FOWL 
Camels  —Locusts — Dogs — Flamingoes — Serpents — Scorpions  —Gazelles       .     295 

Chapter   XI 

TRIPOLI 

The     Town  —  The     Outskirts — Security  — Commerce  —  Palm-Wine —  The 

Future  of  Tripoli         .         .         .          .         .          .         .         .         .  327 

INDEX ;,35 


List    of    Illustrations 


I'Ai.F. 

Roman  Aqueduct  near  the  Bardo        ........          5 

Square  outside  the  Dar-el-Bey   .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  17 

Panorama  from  the  Dar-el- Bey  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .21 

Bardo  Palace  :  Lion  Staircase     .........       25 

A  Man  of  Tunis         .         .         .          .          .         .         .         .         .         .         •       -17 

Gurhi  :   Doorway         ........          ...        51 

Gurbi          .............        52 

Country  Girl      ............        5  ] 

Arab  Countrywomen  ..........        54 

Types  of  Women       .          .......          •         •         •        55 

Country  Woman        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         -57 

Country  Women         ...........        5<S 

Woman  of  Oasis  of  Gabe>          .          .         .         .         .         .          .         .          .61 

Middle-Class  Woman  and  Servant      .          .         .          .         .          .         .         .71 

An  Arab  Funeral        ...........       81 

After  Blood-letting 86 

Negro  Bogey-Man  dancing  in  Bairam          ........       99 

Jewish  Dancing  Girl  .         .         .          .         .          .         .         .         .          .          .      ico 

Boys  in  Best  Clothes  at  Bairam  .         .         .          .          .         .         .          .         .102 

Bairam  :  Swings         ...........      105 

A  Fortune  Teller        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .          .         .  115 

Gate  of  France,  Tunis        .          .          .         .         .          .         .          .          .  127 

Jewess 135 

Tunis:   A  Street          ...........      147 

Bab-Swika  Square,  Tuni.->  .         .         .          .         .          .         .         .          .  149 

Tunis :  A  Door          ...          ....          ...          •      '53 

Tunis  :  Snake  Charmers    ........  •      '55 

Street  Cheese-Seller    .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .158 

Tunis:  Avenue  de  France .          .          .         .         .         .          .         .          .         •      159 

Sisi  bu  Said        ............      in;, 

Carthage  :  Remains  of  the  Basilica    ......  .107 

Carthage:  Old  Cisterns  of  La  Malga  .  171 

Carthage:   Restored  Cisterns       ....  17., 

Monks  Kxcavating  at  Carthago  ......  ..175 

A  I'unic  Tomb  1 77 


xvi  LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


Basilica  at  Carthage  .........  .181 

A  Foiuluk 186 

A  Cook-Shop  in  Tunis       ..........     188 

Arab  Art 189 

A  Wayside  Tavern      .         ....         .        .         ....     190 

Susa 191 

Susa :  The  Tramway  Terminus  for  Kairwan        .         .         .         .         .         .194 

Kairwan 195 

Kairwan  :  The  Main  Street        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .      199 

Kairwan:  Interior  of  the  Great  Mosque     .......     201 

Kairwan  :  Mihrah  of  the  Great  Mosque      .......     205 

Kairwan  Streets         . 207 

Sabra         .............     209 

Kl-Jem  Amphitheatre .         .         .         .210 

Sfax  :  Market  outside  the  Walls 212 

Bread-Stall  in  the  Oasis  of  Gabes       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .214 

Oasis  of  Gabes  :  Interior  of  a  House          .         .         .         .         .         .         .215 

Oasis  of  Gabes  :  Roman  Barrage  still  used  for  irrigation     .         .         .         .217 

A  Wayside  Well  between  El-Jem  and  Sfax  ......     220 

Dugga  :  Corinthian  Temple        .........     228 

Bizerta  Ferry :  Passage  of  a  Funeral  .         .          .         .         .         .         .         .233 

Guard  at  the  entrance  of  the  Bazaars  ........     240 

Bazaars  of  Tunis        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .241 

The  Saddlers'  Bazaar         ..........     245 

Bazaars  of  Tunis        ...........     249 

Bazaars  of  Tunis        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         -251 

A  Carpet  Weaver      ...........     253 

The  Perfume  Bazaar .         .         .         .         .         .         .          •         .         .         -255 

A  Public  Execution,  I         ..........     276 

A  Public  Execution,  2        ..........     278 

A  Public  Execution,  3        ..........     279 

A  Moslem  School       ...........     288 

Racing  Camel 297 


Camels  drawing  Water  from  a  Well 


301 


Caravan  Passing  through  an  Oasis      ........     305 

A  Camel  Tent  Open  ...........     307 

Camel  Cavalcade  on  the  March ^09 


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Historical  Introduction 

The  Berbers  of  Lybia — The  Carthaginians  (u.c.  1400-146)  — A 
Roman  Province  (H.C.  I46-A.D.  439) — The  Vandals  (A.D. 
439-533)  —  The  Byzantines  (A.D.  533-698)  —  The  Arabs 
(A.D.  698-1573) — The  Beys  (A.D.  1573-1881). 

•me  Berbers  VERY  little  is  known  about  the  original  in- 
f  Lywa.  habi|-ants  of  Tunisia.  They  are  all  summed 
up,  with  the  hasty  generalization  of  the  ancients,  as 
Berbers  or  barbarians,  and,  while  some  archaeologists 
assure  us  that  they  came  from  the  East,  others  are 
equally  positive  that  they  were  an  incursion  from 
the  West.  All  that  is  known  about  them  is  that 
they  were  strong  enough,  some  thirty-four  centuries 
ago,  to  attack  Egypt,  and  that  on  the  arrival  of 
the  first  Phoenician  colonists  (about  1400  B.C.)  they 
possessed  prosperous  towns. 

The     first     Phoenician    settlements    were 

The 

Carthaginians.  few    ancj    far    between.      Like  the    Portu- 

(B.C.  1400  146.) 

guese  colonies  in  India  during  the  i6th 
century,  each  settlement  occupied  a  port  and  for- 
tified it  towards  the  land.  There  was  no  idea 
of  conquest,  and  the  intention  was  merely  to  estab- 
lish trading  centres  for  the  purchase  of  ivory,  gold- 
dust,  and  ostrich  feathers,  which  remain  the  prin- 
cipal exports  of  Africa  to  the  present  day.  Even 

1  B 


2  TUNISIA 

Carthage  was  founded  (about  800  B.C.)  by  Queen 
Dido  merely  for  purposes  of  commerce.  It  was 
not  till  the  6th  century  B.C.  that  a  Carthaginian 
kingdom  could  be  said  to  exist.  It  proved  this 
existence  by  the  rapidity  of  its  colonial  expansion, 
and  it  was  soon  master  of  the  Mediterranean. 
Excepting  for  a  repulse  in  Sicily,  everything  smiled 
upon  its  arms  until  it  came  into  collision  with 
Rome,  with  whom  it  was  engaged  in  a  death 
struggle,  lasting  from  264  to  146  B.C.  The  first 
Carthaginian  war  ended  in  241  B.C.  with  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Carthaginians  from  Sicily  and  the 
payment  of  a  heavy  tribute.  In  the  next  war  Han- 
nibal penetrated  to  the  very  gates  of  Rome ;  but 
the  Romans,  disregarding  the  imminence  of  their 
danger,  despatched  Scipio  to  attack  Carthage,  and 
his  successes  necessitated  the  recall  of  Hannibal 
just  when  he  seemed  on  the  eve  of  final  victory. 
The  two  generals  met  at  Zama  on  the  igth  October, 
202  B.C.,  when  Scipio  gained  one  of  the  few  decisive 
battles  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

It  is  one  sign  of  the  hopelessness  of  the  attempt 
to  recognise  any  trace  of  ancient  history  in  modern 
Tunisia  that  the  very  site  of  this  great  battle  is 
still  in  dispute.  Every  sort  of  historical  and  archaeo- 
logical discovery  might  be  revealed  by  proper  enter- 
prise, or  even  by  taking  a  spade  and  digging  it 
almost  anywhere  at  random  a  few  feet  below  the 
surface.  But  so  long  as  the  French  remain  there, 
and  are  permitted  to  retain  their  dog-in-the-manger 
attitude,  we  shall  never  learn  anything. 


HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION  3 

The    battle    of    Zama    reduced    Carthage    to    the 

o 

position  of  a  vassal  of  Rome,  and  when  in  149  B.C. 
Massinissa,  King  of  Numidia,  invaded  Carthaginian 
territory,  a  motion  of  resistance  was  pronounced  to 
be  an  infringement  of  the  suzerainty.  Rome  pro- 
tested, and  Carthage  abased  herself  once  more,  yield- 
ing up  hostages  and  a  large  proportion  of  her  arms. 
But  when  Rome  went  on  to  decree  the  destruction 
of  Carthage,  she  awoke  to  the  courage  of  despair, 
and  a  last  desperate  struggle  was  determined  upon. 
The  bronze  of  the  temples,  the  woodwork  of  the 
palaces,  and  the  ornaments  of  the  people  were  de- 
voted to  the  construction  of  fresh  arms ;  the  women 
cut  off  their  hair  and  contributed  it  for  bow-strings 
and  catapults  ;  slaves  were  emancipated,  and  furnished 
with  weapons  to  resist  the  hated  tyrant. 

At  first  there  seemed  to  be  hope,  but  another 
Scipio  arrived  in  the  spring  of  146  B.C.  and  beat 
down  the  city  wall.  The  struggle  still  went  on  in 
the  streets  and  the  houses,  until  the  last  brave  rem- 
nant, setting  fire  to  the  Acropolis,  perished  in  the 
flames,  and  even  the  hard  conqueror  was  moved  to 
tears. 

Thus  the  last  bulwark  against  Roman  aggression 
perished,  and  the  city  of  Dido  was  razed  to  the 
ground.  Wandering  among  her  ruins  to-day,  and 
observing  a  foot  or  two  beneath  the  soil  the  tell- 
tale layer  of  cinders,  it  is  impossible  not  to  realize 
the  completeness  of  the  Roman  vandalism,  or  to 
withhold  a  tribute  of  indignation  to  the  completeness 
of  this  barbarous  conquest. 


4  TUNISIA 

It  was  long  before  the  Roman  conquest 
vince.     (B.C.  was    complete.       A  solitude    was    created 

146-A.D.  439.)  . 

and  given  the  name  ot  peace.  When 
at  last  anything  in  the  nature  of  reconstructive 
energy  was  permitted,  the  Romans,  like  the  Latin 
race,  which  has  now  succeeded  them  in  posses- 
sion of  the  country,  concerned  themselves  only 
with  their  own  enrichment  and  the  enslavement  of 
the  natives.  An  army  of  occupation,  amounting  to 
fully  30,000  men,  and  an  army  of  officials  on  a 
monstrously  extravagant  scale  covered  the  country 
like  locusts.  Roads,  aqueducts,  monuments,  theatres, 
were  called  into  being  by  the  forced  labour  of  the 
conquered  race  for  the  sole  enjoyment  of  their  task- 
masters. As  the  central  authority  of  Rome  grew 
weaker,  insurrection  after  insurrection  occurred  to 
trouble  her  African  Empire.  Again  and  again  the 
independence  of  the  region  was  proclaimed  for  vary- 
ing periods.  At  last,  in  417  A.D.,  a  final  revolt  of 
the  Berbers,  now  a  more  mixed  race  than  ever, 
paved  the  way  for  the  incursion  of  Genseric  and  his 
Vandals. 

Seizing    Carthage,    which    the    Romans 
A  vand^s^    nacj  rebuilt,  Genseric  used  it,  with  a  kind 

of  poetic  justice,  as  a  base  from  which  he 
proceeded  to  avenge  the  long  tale  of  wrongs,  which 
they  had  inflicted  upon  the  country.  He  employed 
the  natives  to  participate  in  his  ravaging  onslaughts 
on  Europe  ;  but  his  work  in  the  world  was  solely 
one  of  destruction,  and  his  people  never  took  any 
root  in  the  soil  or  possessed  it  outside  their  encamp- 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION  7 

ments.  Tunisia  could  only  be  controlled  by  the  iron 
hand  of  a  great  warrior,  and  the  successors  of  Genseric 
found  themselves  unable  to  cope  with  the  revolts  of 
Berbers  who  had  learnt  the  art  of  war  at  their  hands. 
Profiting  by  these  constantly  recurring  troubles,  and 
by  a  dispute  over  the  Vandal  succession,  the  Emperor 
Justinian  despatched  an  armament  under  Belisarius, 
who  entered  Carthage  in  triumph  after  a  campaign 
of  eight  days  (September,  533). 

The    characteristic     of     the      Byzantine 
Byzantines,    domination      was     revealed     by    this     ra- 

(AD.  533^698.) 

pidity  ot  conquest.  A  firm  government 
was  immediately  set  up,  and  the  fortresses  which 
had  been  dismantled  were  restored  to  more  than 
their  original  strength.  But  the  utmost  resources  of 
the  Empire  and  the  repeated  campaigns  of  her  most 
famous  generals  could  not  avail  to  pacify  the  Berbers, 
who  were  scarcely  subdued  in  one  place  when  they 
broke  out  in  another.  They  had  come  very  near 
obtaining  their  independence  when,  in  647,  an  Arab 
invasion  brought  about  one  more  change  in  the 
mastery  of  the  country.  The  people  welcomed  this, 
in  the  same  way  that  they  had  welcomed  the  Vandal 
invasion,  as  a  respite  from  oppression,  and  did  all 
they  could  to  facilitate  its  triumph.  The  Arabs  were 
at  first  bought  off,  but  they  constantly  re-appeared, 
and  soon  showed  signs  of  consolidating  their  con- 
quests. In  670  they  built  the  foundations  of  their 
future  capital  at  Kairwan,  and  in  698  were  masters 
of  the  whole  country. 

But    for  the  presence   of    the    French,   the  Tunisia 


8  TUNISIA 

of  to-day  cannot  differ  very  widely  from   that  of  the 
Arab  domination  in  the   nth  century.     It  is 

The  Arabs. 

(A.D.      to  that  noblest  and  most  picturesque  portion 

698-1573.) 

of  the  human  race  that  we  owe  the  change  - 
lessness  of  the  golden  East.  The  Arabs  brought 
with  them  the  most  perfect  traditions  of  chivalry,  the 
sublimest  architecture,  the  most  delicate  art,  and  the 
most  glorious  simplicity  which  the  world  may  ever 
know.  After  the  gross  tyranny  of  Rome,  the  coarse- 
ness of  the  Vandals,  and  the  corruption  of  the  Byzan- 
tines, lo,  a  dainty  sunrise  succeeding  to  the  horrors  of 
a  murky  night!  A  millennium  of  romance  had  re- 
placed the  petty  struggles  of  a  series  of  commercial 
conquerors.  The  Berbers  were  not  likely  to  remain 
quiet  for  long  under  any  foreign  domination,  and  we 
find  many  dramatic  incidents  in  a  protracted  rebellion 
led  by  a  martial  Jewess,  named  El-kahina  (the  Cohen, 
or  priestess),  a  great  general,  and  a  surprising  states- 
woman,  at  a  period  and  in  a  country  where  women 
were  classed  among  the  beasts  that  perish.  But 
nothing  and  nobody  could  long  withstand  the  triumph 
of  the  Arab  administration,  whose  glories,  both  in 
peace  and  war,  constituted  the  golden  age  of  Tunisia. 
The  empire  of  the  Arabs  stretched  to  the  confines  of 
Egypt  and  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  Morocco.  Charles 
the  Great  sent  a  friendly  embassage  to  request  the 
surrender  of  the  relics  of  African  martyrs,  and  his 
wishes  were  met  in  a  spirit  of  the  most  charming 
courtesy.  For  over  500  years  (972-1535)  the  country 
was  permitted  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  native  Moslem 
dynasties,  under  the  vassalage  of  the  Arabs.  Then 


HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION  9 

for  a  short  period  the  country  acknowledged  the 
suzerainty  of  Charles  V.,  until,  in  1573,  a  Turkish 
kingdom  of  Tunis  was  constituted  under  the  admi- 
nistration of  a  Dey. 

In    Tunisia,    as    in  most   other    portions 
(A.D.      of    the     Turkish     Empire,     the     unruliness 

1573-1381.) 

of  the  janissaries  turned  the  Turkish 
government  into  a  tyranny.  A  Bey  or  Dey  was 
elected  for  life,  and  depended  upon  a  divan  of  three 
hundred  members.  This  was  the  golden  age  of  the 
Barbary  corsairs,  whose  traditions  have  continued 
down  to  the  memory  of  living  men.  The  strange 
thing  about  this  period  is  perhaps  the  complaisance 
of  Europe,  tolerating  a  nest  of  pirates,  which  never 
possessed  more  than  fourteen  war-ships  and  yet 
contrived  to  terrorise  the  whole  Mediterranean. 
The  government  of  the  Beys  was  a  period  of  internal 
as  well  as  of  external  turmoil  until  1705,  when  the 
elective  Beys  came  to  an  end,  and  Hussein  succeeded 
in  founding  a  dynasty,  which  continues  to  occupy  the 
throne  nominally  at  the  present  day.  Never,  even 
at  the  period  of  its  foundation,  was  the  government 
of  the  Beys  an  effective  one.  It  contented  itself  with 
a  kind  of  military  promenade  twice  a  year,  administer- 
ing a  sort  of  justice  on  its  passage,  but  concerning 
itself  more  particularly  with  the  collection  of  ex- 
orbitant taxes.  It  was  not  until  after  the  defeat  of 
Buonaparte  at  Waterloo,  that  Europe  had  leis 'ire 
to  concern  herself  wit'i  the  minor  misdemeanours  of 
the  Barbary  pirates,  and  even  then  she  contented 
herself  with  friendly  treaties  for  the  release  of  Chris- 


io  TUNISIA 

tian  slaves.  Only  after  the  accession  of  the  Bey 
Ahmed,  in  1837,  his  foolish  attempts  to  Europeanize 
himself  and  his  country,  and  the  financial  embarrass- 
ment which  naturally  ensued,  did  the  fall  of  the 
Beylicate  loom  in  sight.  Then,  under  the  weak 
government  of  his  successors,  the  usual  pretexts 
of  security  and  reform  were  seized,  and,  Lord  Salis- 
bury having  made  a  weak  concession  to  the  French 
at  the  Congress  of  Berlin,  France  took  an  early 
opportunity  of  virtually  annexing  the  country. 

In  1 88 1  an  unimportant  rising  of  the  Krumir  tribe 
was  seized  upon  as  a  pretext  for  invasion.  French 
troops,  acting  nominally  in  the  interests  of  the  Bey, 
advanced  upon  the  rebels,  who  gave  way  at  once, 
whereupon  the  real  object  of  the  expedition  was 
avowed  and  the  Bey  was  given  two  hours  to  sign  a 
treaty,  handing  over  the  foreign  policy  and  internal 
administration  of  his  country  to  the  French,  who 
proceeded  to  put  down  all  resistance  with  a  heavy 
hand. 


Chapter     I 
THE   BEY 

The  Prisoner  of  Marsa — A  French  Puppet — A  State  Prisoner— 
The  Puppet's  Shadow  of  State — Appearance — The  Heir — 
A  Modern  Sovereign — The  Palace  at  Marsa — The  Body- 
guard— The  Gardens — The  Menagery — The  Palace  at  Tunis 
—The  Bardo 

•rue  Prisoner  A  VISIT  to  His  Highness  AH,  Bey  of  Tunis, 
rsa>  is  like  a  visit  to  an  extinct  volcano.  A 
constitutional  monarch  reigns,  but  does  not  govern  : 
it  is  as  much  as  ever  if  the  Bey  may  be  said  to  reign. 
Decrees  still  issue  in  his  name,  but  he  is  scarcely 
apprised  of  them  beforehand,  certainly  not  consulted. 
The  French  Government,  which  is  to  him  what  a 
democratic  parliament  is  to  a  constitutional  monarch, 
and  more  also,  uses  his  name  as  a  bugbear  for  discon- 
tented Moslems  or  jealous  foreign  powers,  but  takes 
care  to  efface  his  personality  as  much  as  possible. 
You  may  spend  weeks  in  the  Regency  and  remain 
unconvinced  of  his  existence  in  this  French  depen- 
dency. Should  you  chance  to  be  near  the  Italian 
railway  station  of  Tunis  on  a  Monday  morning,  you 
may  witness  the  arrival  of  a  portly  old  gentleman, 
who  hurries  into  a  ramshackle  mediaeval  carriage  with 

o 

a  beflagged  escutcheon  on  the  door,  and  drives  off 
to  Dar-el-Bey  as  fast  as  his  pair  of  white  mules 
can  carry  him. 


12  TUNISIA 

A  French  Here  he  receives  any  French  officials  who 
may  have  instructions  for  him ;  but  he  dis- 
likes the  humiliation  of  this  procedure,  and  makes  his 
stay  as  short  as  possible,  anxious  to  return  at  the 
earliest  moment  to  the  monotony  of  his  palace  at 
Marsa.  It  is  significant  of  his  relations  with  the 
French  authorities  that  they  make  him  come  to  them 
in  this  way,  and  will  under  no  circumstances  pay  him 
the  compliment  of  a  visit  to  his  house,  even  when  the 
Resident  is  at  his  summer  quarters  hard  by.  Foreign 
representatives  are  no  longer  accredited  to  him,  but  to 
the  French  Republic  ;  and  they  may  spend  years  at 
Tunis  without  seeing  more  of  him  than  does  the 
Cook's  tourist,  whose  guide  takes  him  to  the  station 
to  watch  the  passage  of  His  Highness.  The  relations 
between  him  and  the  French  are  the  merest  farce. 
He  speaks  nothing  but  Arabic,  and  his  interpreter, 
General  Valensi,  a  Levantine  Hebrew,  who  has 
been  admitted  to  French  citizenship,  knows  Arabic 
and  French  with  equal  imperfection.  Monday's  cere- 
mony consists  of  little  more  than  the  interchange  of 
perfunctory  inquiries  about  the  state  of  their  health 
between  the  Bey  and  the  Resident,  or  his  representa- 
tive ;  various  documents  are  produced  for  His  High- 
ness's  signature,  which  is  given  without  any  attempt 
to  master  their  contents,  and  the  trying  ceremony  is 
at  an  end. 

A  state         The  French  take  good  care  to  discourage 

all    applications  for    audiences    of    the   Bey, 

and,  except  on  the  rare  occasion   of  his  weekly  visit 

to  the  Dar-el-Bey,  His  Highness  rarely  sees  any  one, 


THE   BEY  13 

except  the  members  of  his  own  family.  Indeed,  he  is 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  State  prisoner,  solaced 
by  a  civil  list  of  ,£37,500  a  year.  Your  request  for 
an  audience  is  met  by  the  reply  that  the  Bey  is  now 
a  very  old  man,  and  that  it  would  be  too  much  to 
ask  him  to  receive  visitors.  Until  recently,  however, 
his  wife — he  has  but  one — was  permitted  to  receive 
the  wives  of  distinguished  strangers  in  the  harem 
at  Marsa,  but  this  she  has  now  had  to  discontinue. 
She  is  a  Circassian,  and  is  said  to  have  been  very 
beautiful  once  upon  a  time.  The  late  Bey  had  sent  to 
the  East  to  buy  her  for  his  harem,  but  died  while  she 
was  on  her  way.  The  present  Bey  took  a  fancy  to 
her  when  she  arrived,  and  married  her.  It  is  almost 
an  Arabic  version  of  the  Duke  of  York's  romance. 

The  only  occasion  when  you  may  hope  to 

The  Puppet's  .  . 

shadow  of  come  in  contact  with   the   Bey  of    1  unis   is 

State.  .  J 

during-  the  days  of  Bairam,  the  Moslem 
holiday  which  follows  the  fast  of  Ramadan.  Then 
he  repairs  to  the  palace  of  the  Bardo,  two  or  three 
miles  out  of  Tunis,  and  receives  all  comers.  The 
French  Resident  and  the  General  in  command  of  the 
French  forces  don  their  cocked  hats  and  their  orders, 
and  drive  in  state,  with  outriders  and  a  guard  of 
cavalry,  to  wish  him  the  compliments  of  the  season. 
There  is  always  a  great  concourse  of  people,  with 
jugglers,  snake-charmers,  strolling  minstrels,  itinerant 
vendors  of  nuts  and  sherbet,  and  all  the  other  con- 
comitants of  Moslem  revelry.  You  elbow  your  way 
into  the  large  hall  of  justice,  where  the  Bey  is  seated 
on  a  gilt  throne  upholstered  with  red  velvet.  It  is 


14  TUNISIA 

here  that,  on  rare  occasions,  he  is  still  privileged  to 
come  and  give  his  assent  to  the  execution  of  an  Arab 
criminal  in  the  field  hard  by.  You  are  struck  by  the 
want  of  ceremony  observed.  The  crowds  of  French 
officials  are  all  chatting  together,  and  make  no  effort 
to  avoid  turning  their  backs  to  the  straw  sovereign. 
Their  chief  pre-occupation  seems  to  be  to  avoid  con- 
tact with  the  native  dignitaries,  who  slouch  about  in 
ill-fitting  European  costumes  and  the  sheshia — a  low 
fez  with  a  long  blue  tassel,  their  only  remnant  of 
Oriental  dress. 

The  Bey  himself  wears  plain  trousers  and 

Appearance.  . 

a  richly-embroidered  irock-coat  with  epau- 
lettes, not  unlike  a  naval  officer's  uniform.  Across 
his  breast  is  the  ribbon  of  the  Order  of  the  Blood, 
the  Tunisian  Garter,  which  is  confined  to  some  seven- 
teen persons,  mostly  of  royal  rank.  He  wears  also  a 
constellation  of  foreign  orders,  a  sword  whose  hilt  is 
encrusted  with  jewels,  and  a  sheshia,  covered  with 
gold  embroidered  leaves  and  precious  stones.  His 
predecessor  was  the  first  Bey  to  adopt  this  semblance 
of  European  costume,  and  strict  Moslems  ascribe  his 
humiliation  largely  to  it.  His  face  is  ruddy,  and  he 
wears  a  closely-trimmed  white  beard,  whiskers  and 
moustache  ;  his  expression  is  benevolent,  but  weak 
and  by  no  means  intelligent.  He  seems  scarcely  to 
take  in  the  compliments  of  the  French  Resident, 
clumsily  translated  to  him  by  General  Valensi. 

"  Hamdou  lillah  (God  be  praised),  I  am  well.  What 
is  the  health  of  your  Excellency  ? "  is  his  constant 
refrain,  repeated  with  all  the  variations  in  vogue  at 


THE   BEY  15 

Tunis.  The  Resident  remarks  that  His  Highness 
wore  a  fur  coat  to  come  to  the  Bardo,  and  trusts  that 
His  Highness  did  not  feel  the  cold.  "  No,  hamdou 
lillah,  I  did  not  feel  the  cold.  It  was  my  son  who 
compelled  me  to  wrap  myself  up."  And  a  faint  smile 
plays  upon  the  expressionless  lips.  Poor  Bey  !  His 
attention  often  wanders,  and  you  realize  that  he  is 
thinking  of  the  contempt  he  must  excite  among  his 
compatriots. 

Taib  Bey,1  his  brother  and  heir-apparent, 

The  Heir. 

is  close  by,  and  watches  him  with  a  flash  of 
pity  in  his  deep-set  eyes.  You  have  heard  that  he  is 
disaffected  towards  the  French,  and  you  wonder  how 
he  would  have  comported  himself  in  Ali's  place — how 
he  will  comport  himself  when  his  time  shall  come. 
Alas,  it  is  too  late ! 

A  Modem  ^  ^s  on  tne  second  and  third  days  of 
eign'  Bairam  that  the  Bey  shows  to  best  advan- 
tage, when  he  is  receiving  the  homage  of  his  subjects, 
—subjects  who  might  have  been.  There  are  traces  of 
the  old  patriarchal  demeanour,  and  you  reflect  upon  a 
sovereign  who  might  have  been  a  father  and  a  friend 
to  his  people.  Sometimes  his  eyes,  dulled  with  age 
and  disappointment,  light  up  as  he  converses  with  one 
of  the  heroes  of  the  war  against  the  French  or  a  noted 
intriguer,  but  they  always  encounter  some  emissary  of 
the  Residency,  and  quickly  resume  their  shifty  stare, 
which  would  be  pathetic  if  it  were  not  contemptible. 

The  Palace       ^Y    <-\\nt    of   pertinacity    you    may    obtain 

flti  BlfLTSSL  ••  •      •  i  1  /~^\T 

permission    to    visit    the    palace    of    Marsa. 

1  Since  deceased. 


16  TUNISIA 

The  French  would  far  rather  you  refrained  from  thus 
gratifying  your  curiosity  ;  but  if  you  insist,  they  deem 
it  wiser  to  place  no  obstacle.  General  Valensi  writes 
you  out  a  permit  in  scratchy  Arabic,  and  you  present 
it  to  a  slouching  sentinel,  who  leaves  you  in  the  door- 
way for  many  minutes  while  he  goes  to  verify  the 
document.  The  French  attache,  who  has  taken  care 
to  accompany  you,  sneers  at  the  delay,  and  remarks 
that  the  Bey's  household  think  it  adds  to  their  import- 
ance if  they  keep  Europeans  waiting. 

The  The   delay   gives   you  an    opportunity  of 

dyguard.  ODServjng  tiie  Bey's  bodyguard  at  exercise  in 
the  wide  courtyard.  They  drill  badly,  and  even 
their  goose-step  is  execrable.  A  file  of  Brighton 
school  girls  were  more  military  in  keeping  step  ;  but 
the  men  are  well-built  and  evidently  good  fighting 
material.  They  go  through  various  evolutions  around 
shiny  cannons,  which  the  French  attache  ridicules  as 
toys.  Meanwhile,  you  are  struck  by  the  slipshod 
aspect  of  the  place,  the  sentinels  gossiping  and 
smoking  at  their  posts,  the  unkempt  uniforms,  the 
procession  of  scullions,  with  dirty  dishes  and  barrows- 
ful  of  refuse,  through  the  principal  entrance  of  the 
palace. 

The  At  last  your  emissary  returns,  and  you  are 

conducted  through  the  gardens.  There  are 
large  enclosures  full  of  cabbages  and  burrage,  lemon 
groves,  tawdry  summer-houses  and  hideous  rockeries, 
arrays  of  untidy  cottage  flowers,  and  gravelled  walks 
bordered  with  orange  tulips  and  overgrown  with 
weeds.  On  a  flat  roof  against  the  skyline  is  a  gaunt 


17 


THE   BEY  19 

camel  trudging  painfully  round  a  small  circle  to  draw 
up  water  from  a  well. 

Tue  The    menagery  is    the    most    interesting 

iagery.  feature  of  fae  place,  and  the  one  in  which  the 
Bey  chiefly  delights.  A  black  bear  and  a  hyena  are 
confined  each  in  a  cruelly  narrow  cage,  and  you  are  not 
surprised  at  their  bad  temper.  The  hyena  managed 
to  escape  at  feeding  time  not  long  ago,  and  spread 
consternation  throughout  the  gardens,  particularly 
among  the  gazelles,  which  are  special  favourites  of  the 
Bey.  They  are  kept  in  a  large  yard,  thickly  covered 
with  sand,  which  is  intended  to  remind  them  of  their 
native  deserts.  They  seem  in  excellent  condition,  but 
do  not  display  the  tameness  you  have  observed  among 
gazelles  accustomed  to  be  treated  as  pets.  One  of 
them  is  particularly  shy  and  grows  very  restive  when 
a  young  Arab  seizes  it  by  the  horns  to  enforce  a  caress. 
He  explains  that  it  is  moping  for  the  loss  of  a  sister, 
whose  corpse  you  presently  perceive  outstretched  upon 
the  gravel  walk.  Surely  there  is  no  sight  more  pathe- 
tic than  that  of  a  dead  gazelle.  You  remark  that  its 
eyes  have  been  removed,  and  you  learn  that  they  were 
demanded  by  one  of  the  attendants  of  the  Bey's  wife, 
as  there  is  a  superstition  that  those  who  eat  them 
acquire  beautiful  eyes.  In  the  same  enclosure  as  the 
gazelles  are  a  number  of  Sahara  sheep,  strangest  and 
clumsiest  of  animals,  standing  in  corners  and  staring 
with  frightened  gaze.  The  Arabs  say  they  are 
possessed  by  the  souls  of  the  wicked,  and  their  ap- 
pearance certainly  bears  out  that  theory.  You  make 
the  acquaintance  of  a  comical  baboon,  which  caresses 


20  TUNISIA 

his  keeper  with  a  great  show  of  affection  ;  you  sniff  at 
the  cage  of  a  civet  cat,  which  exhales  an  agreeable 
odour  of  musk  to  a  distance  of  several  yards  ;  and  you 
enter  the  aviary,  which  is  remarkably  well  stocked. 
A  couple  of  large  pelicans  look  delightfully  wise  and 
ridiculous  with  their  prodigious  bills,  and  some 
pheasant  peacocks  are  pointed  out  as  rarities,  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  homely  guinea  pigs  in  hutches 
hard  by. 

me  palace  The  Dar-el-Bey  (House  of  the  Bey)  at 
"^  Tunis  and  the  Bardo  palace  outside  are  now 
little  more  than  show-places,  bearing  the  stamp  of  dis- 
use firmly  imprinted  on  every  room.  The  charm  of 
each  lies  in  the  patios  and  the  arabesques.  The  patios, 
as  in  every  Arab  house,  are  wide,  pillared  courtyards 
of  black  and  white  marble,  either  open  to  the  sky  or 
roofed  with  glass.  They  are  in  the  centre  of  a  house, 
and  all  the  rooms  are  approached  through  them. 
When  there  is  a  fountain  at  play  in  the  centre,  they 
convey  a  delicious  sense  of  coolness  and  luxury.  The 
arabesques  are  carved  in  white  plaster,  and  the  fanci- 
fulness  of  their  designs  is  particularly  artistic.  Some- 
times they  take  the  place  of  windows,  and  a  background 
of  coloured  glass  confers  the  most  fantastic  effects. 
Alas  !  the  art  of  making  arabesques  is  fast  dying  out, 
for  the  French  despise  them  and  the  Arabs  have 
almost  ceased  building.  As  it  takes  a  man  all  day  to 
work  a  piece  of  arabesque  the  size  of  your  hand,  they 
are  obviously  expensive.  You  are  told  that  only  two 
makers  of  arabesques  still  survive,  that  they  are  very 
old,  and  that  when  they  die  they  will  have  no  successors. 


.'1 


THE   BEY  23 

While  visiting  the  Dar-el-Bey  you  must  not  omit  to 
climb  up  to  the  flat  roof,  which  commands  one  of  the 
finest  panoramas  of  the  white  city  glistening  in  the 
sunshine,  and  where  you  are  at  close  quarters  with 
the  muezzins  of  neighbouring  minarets.  The  rooms 
themselves  are  bare,  save  for  an  occasional  gilt  throne 
or  ragged  divan  shrouded  in  chintz  covers.  In  one  of 
the  principal  halls  you  may,  however,  admire  at  every 
window  an  ingenious  peep-hole,  through  which  former 
Beys  were  enabled  to  perceive  the  concourse  in  the 
bazaar  without  themselves  being  perceived.  And  the 
ceilings  are  a  constant  delight.  That  in  the  dining- 
hall  is  covered  with  arabesques  of  very  graceful 
patterns,  while  others  are  of  carved  wood,  vividly  but 
exquisitely  painted  in  green  and  gold  and  red. 

The   palace  of  the    Bardo    is  even   more 

The  Bardo. 

dilapidated  and  desolate  than  the  Dar-el-Bey. 
The  great  courtyard  is  full  of  refuse,  and  the  harem 
has  been  turned  into  a  museum  of  no  particular  in- 
terest. The  walls  of  the  saloons  are  mostly  covered 
with  badly  executed  portraits  of  Victor  Emmanuel, 
Louis  Napoleon  Buonaparte  and  recent  Beys.  You 
are  perhaps  chiefly  struck  by  the  unnecessary 
profusion  of  ormolu  clocks.  In  one  room  I  counted 
no  less  than  fifteen,  all  of  gigantic  proportions,  and  not 
one  of  them  going.  Were  they  all  wound  up,  the 
chorus  of  their  ticks  would  assuredly  be  distracting. 

The  Bey's  life  at  Marsa,  if  it  is  uneventful,  is  not 
unhappy.  He  rises  late  and  retires  early,  and  the 
short  days  soon  pass  away,  divided  as  they  are  between 
prayers  in  his  private  mosque,  lengthy  meals,  drives  in 


24  TUNISIA 

the  neighbourhood,  and  strolls  among  his  animals. 
No  one  has  anything  but  praise  for  his  kindness  of 
heart  and  invariable  geniality.  He  showed  in  1881 
that  he  could  take  an  active  part  if  need  be,  for  he 
commanded  a  column  against  his  own  subjects  when 
they  resisted  the  French.  But  at  his  advanced  age 
there  is  no  need  to  wonder  if  he  prefers  the  repose  and 
security  which  the  shortcomings  of  his  predecessors 
have  imposed. 


:. 


Chapter    II 
THE   MODERN   BARBARY   PIRATES 

French  Administration  —  Finance  —  Taxes  —  Army  —  Unlike  Algeria  — 
Tunisia  has  an  Astute  Despotism  —  The  Official  Version  —  Is 
highly  coloured  —  Exactions  of  Officials  —  A  Great  Gulf  Fixed 
—Travel  Hindered  —  Spy-Mania  —  Communications  —  Camp 
Followers,  not  Colonists  —  Vexatious  Custom-Houses  —  The 
Future  of  the  Country  —  Our  Lost  Opportunity. 


French  Ad-  retams  a    Prime   Minister   and  a 

numeration.  Mjnjster   of    tne    pen>    wno    are    practically 

under  the  orders  of  M.  Millet,  the  French  Resident, 
who  is  nominally  subject  to  the  Foreign  Minister  of 
the  Republic,  but  has  hitherto  enjoyed  a  fairly  free 
hand.  He  is  a  self-made  man  and  somewhat  of  a 
rough  diamond.  His  assistant,  M.  Revoil,  is  more 
of  the  gentleman  and  the  diplomatist,  but  generally 
resides  in  France  while  M.  Millet  is  at  Tunis,  merely 
replacing  him  during  his  absence.  There  is  a  staff  of 
attaches  at  the  Residency,  but  they  seem  to  do  little 
more  than  clerical  work,  unless  specially  delegated  to 
any  mission  by  the  Resident.  The  work  of  adminis- 
tration throughout  the  country  is  done  by  a  number 
of  French  prefects,  known  as  controleurs  civils,  who 
supervise  and  bully  the  kaids,  or  native  administrators, 
as  the  Resident  does  the  Bey.  '  Big  fleas  have  little 
fleas.  .  .  .  '  The  kaids  occupy  themselves  with  the 


28  TUNISIA 

native  police,  the  collection  of  taxes,  and  certain  mili- 
tary and  judicial  functions,  assisted  by  minor  officials 
known  as  khalifas  and  sheikhs.  The  controleur  has  all 
the  authority  and  the  kaid  most  of  the  responsibility. 
In  the  tribal  districts  the  old  patriarchal  adminis- 
tration remains,  subject,  of  course,  to  the  ceaseless 
interference  of  the  controleur.  Several  towns  have 
also  a  municipal  administration,  the  Arabs  being 
under  an  official  who  is  generally  the  local  kaid,  and 
the  Jews  being  under  one  of  their  own  race. 

The  real  cause  of  the  fall  of  the  Tunisian 
monarchy  was,  as  usual,  a  reckless  system  of 
finance.  In  1870  the  interest  on  the  debt  amounted 
to  nineteen  and  a  half  million  francs,  while  the  total 
revenue  of  the  Regency  amounted  only  to  thirteen  and 
a  half  millions.  Then  a  French,  English  and  Italian 
Commission  effected  a  composition  with  the  creditors ; 
but  even  after  reducing  the  debt  by  one  half,  the 
Regency  was  still  unable  to  pay  interest  regularly 
until  the  time  of  the  Protectorate.  The  French 
Government,  by  guaranteeing  future  Tunisian 
emissions,  effected  a  series  of  conversions,  and  has 
by  now  restored  the  position  of  the  finances.  The 
old  Commission,  in  which  Italy  and  England  had  a 
share,  was  not  unnaturally  terminated,  and  the  French 
took  over  the  entire  administration  of  the  finances. 
The  principal  items  of  the  present  expenditure  are 
,£255,600  for  interest  on  the  debt,  ,£190,480  for  public 
works,  ^67,200  for  the  civil  list  of  the  Bey  and  his 
family,  ,£38,560  for  the  post  office,  ,£30,480  for  edu- 
cation, .£27,200  for  controleurs  civils  and  agriculture, 


THE   MODERN   BARBARY   PIRATES  29 

besides  heavy  extraordinary  expenses  which  amounted 
to  ,£177,080  in  1894.  The  French  claim  to  have 
spent  a  large  sum  of  their  own  money,  amounting  to 
no  less  than  eleven  and  a  half  millions  sterling,  up  to 
1896,  but  this  includes  the  expenses  of  military  expe- 
ditions against  Tunisia  and  all  the  expenses  of  the 
army  of  occupation,  which  would  in  any  case  have 
had  to  be  maintained  elsewhere.  By  a  reasonable 
calculation,  the  French  expenses  connected  with 
Tunisia  cannot  be  set  down  at  more  than  ,£32,000  a 
year,  and  efforts  are  constantly  being  made  to  trans- 
fer every  possible  portion  of  it  from  the  French  to 
the  Tunisian  taxpayer. 

Under  the    Beys,  taxation  was  irregularly 

Taxes 

collected  ;  for  several  years  a  man  might  pay 
nothing  at  all ;  then  of  a  sudden  he  might  be  mulcted 
of  most  of  his  savings.  Now  he  knows  exactly  what 
he  will  have  to  pay,  but  it  often  amounts  to  more  than 
ever ;  and  when  he  reflects  that  the  natives  have  to 
bear  the  whole  burden  of  the  occupation  (military 
expenses  alone  excepted),  it  is  not  surprising  that  he 
should  murmur.  It  is  true  that  he  has  obtained 
facilities  for  exporting  his  corn  to  France,  but  the 
money  value  of  this  is  difficult  to  bring  home  to  him, 
particularly  at  a  time  when  four  bad  seasons  in  suc- 
cession have  reduced  his  crops  till  they  barely  suffice 
for  his  own  needs.  The  chief  source  of  revenue  is 
the  mcjda,  a  poll  tax  of  i6s.  a  year  on  every  adult 
male,  which  swallows  sometimes  as  much  as  a  quarter 
of  the  whole  income  of  a  working  man.  A  native  also 
owes  three  days  of  forced  labour  to  the  government, 


30  TUNISIA 

and  there  are  heavy  taxes  upon  the  production  of  all 
cereals  and  oils,  as  well  as  taxes  on  every  olive  and 
palm  tree  in  the  Regency.  Gardens,  rents,  freeholds, 
are  also  heavily  taxed — one  sixteenth  of  every  rent 
being  due  to  the  government — while  industry  and 
commerce  are  subjected  not  merely  to  export  and 
import  dues,  but  to  an  infinite  variety  of  complicated 
taxes  known  as  mdsulats. 

At   the  time  of  the  occupation   the   Bey 

Army. 

had  an  army  organized  on  the  French 
pattern,  but  so  costly  that  the  pay  was  always  hope- 
lessly in  arrear.  In  1883  it  was  reduced  to  a  body- 
guard of  600  men,  including  a  band,  and  the  total 
cost  per  annum  is  only  ,£24,600.  There  is  now  a 
conscription  for  young  men  between  eighteen  and 
twenty-two,  and  the  service  is  for  two  years.  The 
two  Tunisian  regiments  thus  recruited  are  numbered 
as  if  they  formed  part  of  the  Algerian  army.  There 
are  also  three  French  regiments  and  two  French 
battalions,  which,  with  the  two  native  regiments,  make 
up  a  total  of  14,473  men  under  the  command  of  the 
Minister  of  War. 

A  French  officer,  who  has  seen  service  in  Tunisia, 
gave  me  details  of  the  discipline  in  the  south.  The 
favourite  punishment  is  known  as  crapaudine.  It  con- 
sists of  spreading  out  a  soldier,  like  a  toad,  against 
the  wall  of  a  punishment  cell,  with  his  outstretched 
arms  and  legs  securely  tied,  and  leaving  him  there 
for  two  or  three  days  without  food  or  water.  As  the 
weather  is  generally  very  hot  in  those  regions,  the 
tortures  of  thirst  are  terrible,  and  the  punishment  is 


THE   MODERN   BARBARY   PIRATES  31 

much  dreaded.  Not  long  ago  a  soldier  died  under 
the  treatment,  and  there  was  some  scandal ;  but  the 
officers  pleaded  that  strong  measures  were  absolutely 
necessary  for  maintaining  discipline,  and  that  the 
only  alternative  would  be  frequent  executions.  An- 
other favourite  punishment  is  to  strip  a  man,  tie  his 
legs,  and  expose  him  all  day  to  the  sun  in  the  desert. 
In  extreme  cases  also  men  have  been  tied  to  a 
horse's  tail,  and  dragged  at  a  gallop  through  the  sand. 
The  strange  thing  is,  that  the  men  do  not  make  loud 
protest  when  their  comrades  are  punished  in  these 
ways ;  but  if  there  were  any  attempt  to  introduce 
flogging,  it  would  certainly  be  followed  by  a  mutiny, 
as  corporal  punishment  would  be  considered  an  in- 
tolerable indignity.  When  I  mentioned  that  flogging 
was  not  unknown  in  our  service,  my  informant 
could  not  conceal  his  amazement.  Appointments 
in  the  outposts  of  Tunisia  are  in  great  demand 
among  the  officers,  and  are  considered  a  sure 
avenue  to  advancement.  It  is  a  frequent  source  of 
complaint  with  the  army  of  occupation  that  a  mule 
receives  far  more  consideration  from  the  authorities 
than  a  French  soldier.  A  mule  costs  money  to  buy 
while  a  soldier  can  be  impressed  at  will ;  and  if  ever  it 
becomes  a  question  which  of  the  two  shall  be  spared,  it 
is  the  mule  which  has  the  preference.  If  the  French 
were  logical,  no  doubt  they  would  follow  the  Americans 
in  according  burial  with  military  honours  to  all  their 
mules  who  fell  in  the  field. 

unlike          ^n  Algeria  you  find   one  of  the  strangest 
Algeria,     forms  of  «  popular  "  government  in  the  world. 


32  TUNISIA 

The  French  colonists  and  the  native  Jews  alone  have 
votes,  and  as  there  are  47,000  Jews  to  270,000  French, 
the  elections  are  generally  swamped  by  the  Jews, 
who  sell  their  votes  to  the  highest  bidder.  The 
suffrage  was  conferred  on  them  at  the  instance  of  a 
French  Jew,  named  Cremieux,  whose  proposal  was 
slipped  into  the  Constitution  of  1870,  when  the  French 
assembly  had  other  things  to  think  of,  and  could  not 
concern  itself  with  intricate  racial  questions  in 
Algeria. 

In  Tunisia  the  government  is  a  despotism, 
an  astute   and   the    French   authorities   never   tire    of 

Despotism.         .  .  .  .  . 

pointing  out  that  they  are  there  not  by  con- 
quest but  by  Treaty.  There  is  a  kind  of  parliament, 
to  be  sure,  but,  like  the  old  pre-Revolutionary  parlia- 
ments, it  possesses  only  consultative  powers.  It  may 
pass  what  resolutions  it  pleases,  but  the  Resident  may, 
and  often  does,  merely  take  note  of  them.  His  ad- 
ministration, with  infinite  astuteness,  neglects  no  effort 
to  smooth  native  susceptibilities.  All  decrees  issue  in 
the  name  of  Allah  and  his  Highness  the  Bey,  and  are 
merely  countersigned  by  M.  Millet,  their  originator. 
When  it  is  necessary  to  modify  some  ancient  national 
institution,  the  thing  is  done  with  the  utmost  delicacy. 
For  instance,  difficulties  had  been  caused  by  a  species 
of  mortmain.  Religious  corporations,  known  as 
habbus,  hold  land  inalienably,  and  a  law  of  the  Medes 
and  Persians  absolutely  forbids  the  sale  of  it  in  any 
circumstances.  The  French  Government  has  accord- 
ingly announced  its  intention  to  respect  this  law  in 
theory,  but  it  enacts  that  henceforward  habbu  land 


THE   MODERN   BARBARY    PIRATES  33 

may  be  "  exchanged  for  money."  A  long  stay  in 
Tunis  is  not  needed  to  realize  how  cleverly  the 
French  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  Tunisians  : 
taking  the  Bey's  name  in  vain  to  overawe  his  subjects, 
modifying  fundamental  laws  by  quibbles,  and  exer- 
cising a  stern  despotism  under  the  guise  of  a  dis- 
interested Protectorate.  But  it  requires  some  weeks' 
steady  exploration  of  the  interior  to  perceive  that  the 
Government  is  no  less  adroit  in  blinding  the  ingenuous 
traveller.  While  I  remained  in  the  capital  I  heard 
the  authorised  version  so  often,  and  from  such  varied 
and  unimpeachable  sources,  that  it  seemed  almost 
impossible  to  doubt. 

The  official  All  asserted  in  chorus  that,  whereas 
twenty  years  ago  it  was  dangerous  to 
venture  outside  the  gates  of  the  principal  towns 
unarmed,  a  child  might  now  wander  anywhere  from 
the  Mogods  to  the  Troglodytes  in  perfect  security 
with  a  purse  of  gold  in  its  hand  ;  that  the  traveller's 
only  cause  for  alarm  lay  in  the  suspicious  nature 
of  the  Kabyle  dogs,  whose  bark  was,  however,  worse 
than  their  bite  ;  that  the  one  desire  of  the  authorities 
was  to  open  up  the  whole  Regency  as  a  tourists' 
playground ;  that  the  people  were  prosperous  and 
contented,  as  they  had  never  been  since  the  days 
of  the  Romans ;  and  that  the  material  blessings  of 
civilization  were  being  propagated  hand  in  hand  with 
the  noblest  principles  of  liberty  and  fraternity, 
is  highly  It  is  not,  of  course,  to  be  denied  that 

Coloured,     n^       •    •      i  i   •  i 

1  Linisia  has  progressed  in  many  ways   under 
the    French  ;    but    the    picture    is,    to    say    the    least, 

i) 


34  TUNISIA 

highly  coloured.  A  British  Vice- Consul,  who  has 
lived  many  years  in  remoter  Tunisia,  told  me  that, 
if  anything,  he  had  found  the  country  safer  before 
the  occupation  had  aroused  race  hatreds.  In  old 
days  he  rarely  carried  a  weapon ;  now  he  would  feel 
unsafe  inland  without  one,  particularly  if  he  carried 
money  with  him.  From  another  source  I  learn 
that  robberies  are  now  frequent  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Gabes,  merchants  (especially  Jews)  being  relieved 
of  their  purses  by  masked  men,  but  not  otherwise 
molested.  A  few  weeks  before  my  visit  some  Arabs 
had  been  stopped,  and  their  three  camels  carried 
off.  This  state  of  things  is  generally  ascribed  to 
hard  times,  as  the  Tunisians  rarely  rob  except  under 
the  impulse  .of  want. 

Exactions  of  I  have  not  stayed  long  enough  in  Tunisia 
to  know  the  full  iniquity  of  the  French 
treatment  of  the  natives,  but  I  know  that  gross  cases 
of  extortion  are  not  unusual.  A  few  years  ago  a 
French  minister  came  to  visit  Kairwan  in  state,  and 
was  amazed  to  find  the  greater  part  of  the  French 
colony  collected  on  the  roofs  to  greet  him  with 
hisses  and  hoots,  and  a  local  variety  of  "  rough  music." 
He  was  as  much  surprised  as  he  was  put  out  by 
his  reception,  which  he  had  done  nothing  to  earn ; 
and  it  was  not  until  some  time  afterwards  that  he 
discovered  that  this  was  intended  as  a  demonstration 
against  the  French  Government  of  Tunisia.  The 
fact  was  that  the  colonists  were  annoyed  at  the 
recent  removal  of  a  controleur,  who  had  facilitated 
their  exactions.  They  had  grabbed  the  land  of  the 


THE   MODERN   BARBARY   PIRATES  35 

natives,  seized  any  flocks  which  happened  to  stray 
there,  and  exacted  monstrous  ransoms  before  they 
would  give  them  up ;  the  controleur  had  given 
decisions  in  their  favour,  in  consideration  of  going 
shares  with  them,  and  they  were  accordingly  furious 
at  his  removal.  In  this  case  the  scandal  had  been 
so  great  that  the  Government  had  felt  compelled 
to  intervene ;  but  there  are  plenty  of  cases  of  similar 
terrorism,  which  have  not  yet  reached  a  sufficient 
pitch  of  notoriety  to  induce  the  authorities  to  put 
them  down. 
A  Great  Gulf  The  French  often  express  surprise  that 

the  Arabs  do  not  accept  the  privilege  of 
being  naturalized  as  French  subjects,  which  is  freely 
open  to  them ;  but  at  present  they  cannot  do  so 
without  virtually  abandoning  their  race  and  creed. 
If  the  French  were  willing  to  let  them  keep  their 
marriage  laws  and  various  domestic  customs,  many 
of  them  would,  no  doubt,  be  willing  to  serve  in  the 
French  army,  and  pay  their  share  of  the  taxation. 
But  this  the  French  colonists,  who  are  very  jealous 
about  retaining  the  whole  administration  of  govern- 
ment in  their  own  hands,  have  not  shown  any  anxiety 
to  facilitate.  The  Jews,  on  the  other  hand,  would 
do  anything  to  avoid  the  liability  of  having  to  fight, 
but  some  of  them  would  welcome  the  extension  of 
the  Algerian  system  to  Tunisia. 

Travel          Travellers,      who      attempt      to      explore 

Tunisia,  will  find  that  the  authorities  are 
far  more  friendly  to  them  in  words  than  in  deeds. 
British  ladies,  engaged  in  missionary  work  in  Tunisia, 


36  TUNISIA 

have  told  me  that  they  have  experienced  constant 
annoyance  and  discourtesy  at  the  hands  of  the  French 
officials.  One  of  them  was  summoned  for  the  heinous 
offence  of  lending  a  Bible  to  a  native,  and  after 
spending  many  hours  in  court,  and  hearing  various 
persons  sentenced  to  imprisonments  for  assaults  and 
robberies,  was  fined  15  francs  and  costs.1  It  appears 
that  the  sale  and  even  loan  of  books  are  regulated 
by  straining  the  Press  laws,  which  are  very  strict. 
Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  wisdom  of  discouraging 
missions  to  people  who  believe  fervently  in  a  creed 
admirably  suited  to  their  needs,  we  surely  cannot  hear 
without  protest  of  the  persecution  of  our  fellow  country- 
women, however  indiscreet,  for  the  harmless  pastime 
of  lending  devotional  works. 

There  is,  moreover,   ample  evidence  that 

Spy-mania. 

the  spy-mania  has  spread  from  France  to  the 
Protectorate.  All  foreigners  are  subjected  to  constant 
espionage  by  the  police,  and  elaborate  dossiers,  detail- 
ing their  minutest  actions  and  movements,  are  stored 
at  the  Residency.  Sportsmen  in  pursuit  of  mouflons 
near  the  military  outposts  are  viewed  with  special 
suspicion ;  and  all  travellers  who  penetrate  out  of 
the  beaten  track  are  liable  to  an  annoying  supervision, 
such  as  would  be  resented  in  Russia  or  Turkey. 
Even  in  the  streets  of  Sfax,  Mrs.  Vivian  and  I  were 
stopped  by  the  police,  who  told  us  that  they  would 
assuredly  have  conducted  us  to  the  brigade  if  I  had 
not  chanced  to  have  my  passport  with  me.  A  similar 

1  She  and  a  friend  have  since  suffered  six  days'  imprisonment  (in 
1899)  for  a  repetition  of  the  "crime." 


THE   MODERN   BARBARY   PIRATES  37 

incident  happened  to  Sir  Lambert  Playfair,  when  he 
was  British  Consul- General  in  Tunis.  He  had  no 
passport  with  him,  and  it  was  merely  by  offering 
to  write  himself  out  one  that  he  escaped  arrest. 
Having  a  large  experience  of  French  methods,  he 
was  wont  to  take  up  a  coin  and  read  out  the  legend 
thus  :  "  Li  be  rid  point.  Egalitd  point.  Fratcrnitd 
point"  As  to  French  liberty  in  Tunisia,  it  is  in- 
structive to  note  that  the  Resident  stopped  all  tele- 
grams sent  by  the  correspondents  of  French  journals 
with  reference  to  the  anti-Semitic  disturbances  at 
Tunis  in  1898. 

communi-  ^  '1S  strange  that  after  directing  the 
destinies  of  Tunisia  so  long,  the  French 
should  have  done  so  little  to  improve  the  communi- 
cations. Railways  are  few  and  rickety,  diligences  are 
a  ruinous  torture ;  and,  though  the  main  roads  are 
fairly  good,  driving  upon  them  in  worn-out  cabs  is 
by  no  means  a  pleasure.  For  the  journey  along  the 
coast,  the  Italian  service  of  boats  is  by  no  means 
uncomfortable,  chiefly,  perhaps,  because  it  is  so  poorly 
patronized ;  but  any  attempt  to  penetrate  beyond 
the  mere  fringe  of  the  coast,  can  only  be  made 
after  purchasing  tents,  horses,  mules,  large  stores  of 
provisions,  and  hiring  a  retinue  of  guards  and 
attendants,  such  as  are  required  for  exploring  the 
wilds.  As  for  the  security  of  such  an  undertaking, 
there  is,  probably,  little  clanger  to  be  feared  from  the 
Arabs,  except  in  the  remoter  regions  ;  but  the  traveller 
will  find  constant  discouragement  from  the  French 
authorities,  whose  courtesy  leaves  much  to  be  desired. 


38  TUNISIA 

I  travelled  from  Kairwan  to  Susa  by  a  tramway, 
and  found  it  extremely  uncomfortable.  It  consists 
of  an  open  car  with  abrupt  benches  for  some  twelve, 
or,  at  a  pinch,  fourteen  passengers.  It  runs  with 
much  rumbling  and  swaying  on  rails  of  i8-in.  or 
2O-in.  gauge,  drawn  by  a  pair  of  horses,  cantering 
on  a  rough  track  by  the  side.  Whenever  we  crossed 
a  wed,  or  torrent  bed,  the  rails  went  over  it,  un- 
supported, through  the  air,  while  the  horses  struggled 
through  deep  mud  or  over  boulders,  sometimes  as 
much  as  10  ft.  below.  I  should  think  accidents 
would  be  very  easy ;  but  no  doubt  the  tramway 
will  be  little  used,  now  that  it  has  to  bear  the  com- 
petition of  a  railway  line.  A  bitterly  cold  wind 
completed  the  miseries  of  the  journey  through  forty 
miles  of  bleak  moor,  relieved  only  by  occasional 
patches  of  bright  flowers. 

I  had  intended  to  go  from  Susa  to  Sfax  by 
diligence,  despite  the  warnings  of  my  friends  at  Tunis, 
who  had  tried  it.  But  I  found  that  it  would  cost 
60  francs  to  take  a  coupe,  and  6  or  7  francs  more 
for  luggage,  while  a  carriage  could  be  hired  to  cover 
the  whole  distance  of  eighty  miles  for  70  francs. 
Moreover,  the  diligences  are  great,  unwieldy  edifices, 
not  unlike  Noah's  ark  in  appearance.  Their  wheels 
are  loose,  their  seats  are  hard,  and,  after  watching 
one  of  them  lurch  past  El  Jem,  I  rejoiced  exceedingly 
that  I  had  not  passed  the  night  at  its  mercy. 

It  is  useless  for  the  French  to  profess  to  desire 
the  opening  up  of  Tunisia  by  tourists,  while  they 
make  no  effort  to  render  travel  possible  with  com- 


THE   MODERN   BARBARY   PIRATES  39 

parative  comfort  and  cheapness.  As  things  stand 
at  present,  they  will  not  lure  many  people  far  beyond 
the  capital. 

The  Pattern  That  the  French  are  not  good  colonists 
is  a  commonplace,  but  they  would  have 
us  believe  that  they  have  made  a  brilliant  exception 
in  the  case  of  Tunisia,  which  they  proudly  claim  as 
a  pattern  state.  Such  praise  is,  however,  merely 
comparative.  Tunisia  may  compare  favourably  with 
Algeria,  whose  administration  is  a  compound  of 
corruption  and  mismanagement,  surpassing  even  that 
of  France  herself;  and  the  Regency  may  possess 
many  advantages  over  the  various  other  settlements 
and  penal  establishments  which  make  up  the  French 
colonial  system.  But  its  popularity  as  a  colony  must 
be  gauged  by  the  fact  that  less  than  200  French 
colonists  can  be  induced  to  come  over  every  year. 
There  are  plenty  of  Italians,  Maltese,  Greeks  and 
other  Levantines  ready  to  come  and  take  what  they 
can  get ;  but  their  presence  is  often  a  doubtful  acquisi- 
tion, and  the  reputation  of  the  colony  would  be  better 
if  they  could  be  persuaded  to  stay  at  home. 

If  Tunisia  is  to  have  credit  as  a  French  colony,  it 
must  be  colonized  by  Frenchmen.  This  the  authorities 
understand,  and  they  constantly  endeavour  to  devise 
means  whereby  French  agriculturists  may  be  induced 
to  come.  But  with  the  best  will  in  the  world  they 
do  not  contrive  to  present  a  very  attractive  picture. 
I  have  in  my  hand  a  pamphlet  which  they  have  issued 
for  distribution  among  persons  contemplating  emigra- 
tion. It  begins  by  setting  forth  the  superior  advan- 


40  TUNISIA 

tages  of  Tunisia  over  America  and  other  fields  of 
colonization  :  the  beneficent  climate ;  the  absence  of 
fevers,  savages,  prairie  fires ;  and  the  presence  of  the 
French  flag  to  afford  protection  and  the  feeling  of 
home.  But  it  goes  on  to  lay  great  stress  upon  the 
futility  of  coming  over  without  capital,  intelligence, 
and  industry;  the  possession  of  which  three  blessings 
would,  however,  enable  most  men  to  do  well  anywhere, 
without  the  need  of  emigration.  There  are  not  even 
free  concessions  of  land,  or  subsidies  of  any  kind. 
Necessaries,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  bread  and 
the  worst  imaginable  meat,  are  no  cheaper  than  in 
the  average  French  provincial  town,  while  all  luxuries, 
down  to  the  very  smallest,  are  infinitely  dearer, 
camp-  Practically,  the  chief  form  which  French 

followers,  not 

colonists,  colonization  has  taken  so  far,  has  been  little 
more  than  a  species  of  camp-following.  Wherever  a 
French  garrison  establishes  itself,  a  number  of  tawdry 
shops,  rough  eating-houses,  and  dismal  places  of 
entertainment  creep  into  existence.  No  doubt  the 
proprietors  rapidly  enrich  themselves  by  the  sale  of 
inferior  goods  at  prices  calculated  to  repay  them  for 
the  burthen  of  expatriation ;  and  if  this  satisfies  the 
aspirations  of  French  expansion,  there  is  no  more 
to  be  said. 

vexatious        I   may  mention   an   incident   which    illus- 

Custom- 

nouses.  trates  the  working  of  the  French  Custom- 
houses. There  is  a  very  severe  law,  prohibiting 
the  importation  of  all  plants  on  pain  of  a  heavy 
fine  and  imprisonment.  A  trader  at  Gabes,  desirous 
of  growing  roses  in  his  garden,  ordered  some  cuttings 


THE   MODERN   BARBARY   PIRATES  41 

from  abroad,  and  they  were  of  course  captured  at  the 
custom-house.  The  official  who  effected  the  confisca- 
tion put  the  cuttings  aside,  destining  them  for  his 
own  garden;  but  another  official  came  alonsf  in  his 

fj  O 

absence  and  carried  them  off.  The  first  official  was 
furious,  and  there  were  endless  reports  on  the  subject, 
none  of  which  led  to  any  practical  results.  The 
cuttings,  however,  were  planted  in  the  second  official's 
garden,  and  have  provided  the  only  European  roses 
which  are  to  be  found  in  the  locality.  The  custom- 
house also  prohibits  the  importation  of  any  bulbs 
which  require  to  be  brought  with  their  native  earth. 
There  is  a  certain  bulb  produced  at  Tripoli  and 
largely  used  in  Arab  perfumery,  but  as  it  cannot 
travel  without  earth  it  is  not  admitted  at  the  Tunisian 
ports,  though,  owing  to  the  fact  that  no  custom-houses 
exist  on  the  land  frontier,  these  bulbs  have  long  found 
their  way  to  all  the  druggists'  shops  in  the  Regency. 
When,  however,  a  man  attempted  to  import  them 
wholesale  by  land,  the  Government  at  once  inter- 
vened, and  confiscated  all  his  supply  in  spite  of  every 
protest. 

The  Turks  encourage  free  trade  between  Tripoli  and 
Tunis  by  land,  because  the)-  have  a  law  establishing  it 
between  provinces  of  their  Empire,  from  which  they 
have  never  acquiesced  in  the  exclusion  of  Tunisia  ;  and 
the  French  military  authorities,  who  derive  no  profit 
from  the  customs  duties,  encourage  contraband  by  land, 
just  as  they  discourage  the  collection  of  taxes  within 
their  districts,  because  they  find  people  more  easy  to 
i/overn  when  there  are  no  -jricvanccs  about  taxation. 


42  TUNISIA 

The  civil  administration  must  look  after  itself,  and, 
finding  that  it  would  not  pay  to  establish  a  cordon  of 
custom-houses  all  along  the  frontier  of  Tripoli,  takes 
its  chance  of  being  able  to  lay  hands  upon  any  large 
consignment  of  smuggled  goods  which  may  have 
made  its  way  in. 

The  Future  of  OnQ  thing  is  certain,  that  the  present 
xy'  anomalous  form  of  government  in  Tunisia 
cannot  possibly  be  permanent.  Either  the  French 
people  will  insist  upon  some  experiment  of  representa- 
tion, and  Tunisia  will  be  reduced  to  the  pitiable  level 
of  Algeria ;  or  the  Arabs,  in  a  wave  of  religious 
enthusiasm,  will  drive  the  French  into  the  sea ; 
or  else  a  French  reverse  in  Europe  will  lead  to 
the  annexation  of  the  Regency  by  another  of  the 
great  powers.  The  French  character  does  not  lend 
itself  to  expansion.  France  cannot  colonize,  because 
the  decent  part  of  her  population  prefers  to  remain 
at  home,  and  her  brief  attempts  at  empire  have  been 
mere  flashes  in  the  pan.  Who,  then,  will  be  her 
successor  ?  Italy  has  long  coveted  the  country,  and 
still  floods  it  with  a  large  proportion  of  its  colonists  ; 
but  Italy  has  not  been  so  successful  in  attempting  to 
govern  herself,  that  she  may  be  allowed  to  go  on 
exhibiting  her  failures  elsewhere.  Turkey  has  tradi- 
tional claims,  and  can  show  a  clean  record  in  Tripoli; 
but  the  restoration  of  any  of  her  lost  provinces  would 
meet  with  much  opposition  in  the  present  condition 
of  public  opinion.  England  alone,  among  those  who 
have  definite  interests  in  the  Mediterranean,  can  claim 
to  be  considered.  The  large  Maltese  population  in 


THE   MODERN   BARBARY   PIRATES  43 

Tunisia  has  already  provided  us  with  a  foothold,  and 
our  success  in  Egypt  and  India  proves  us  to  be  the 
most  obvious  instrument  for  the  reasonable  civilization 
and  competent  administration  of  Muhammadan  races. 
Many  have  wondered  why  we  did  not  establish  a 
sphere  of  influence  there  long  ago,  when  it  would 
have  been  easy,  and  why  we  remained  mute  when  the 
French  established  themselves  there.  Our  silence, 
however,  appears  to  have  been  but  one  more  in  the 
long  series  of  blunders  which  has  gone  to  make  up  the 
foreign  policy  of  Lord  Salisbury. 
our  Lost  It  is  said,  and,  even  with  his  genius  for 
aity' evasion,  he  has  never  ventured  to  deny,  that 
he  assented  to  the  occupation  as  a  sop  in  return  for 
our  doubtful  acquisition  of  Cyprus.  This,  however, 
does  not  explain,  or  still  less  atone  for  his  failure 
to  use  Tunis  as  a  retort  whenever  the  French  have 
complained  of  our  presence  in  Egypt ;  and  the  climax 
of  his  weakness  and  incapacity  has  surely  been  reached 
in  the  case  of  his  recent  treaty.  It  was  one  thing  to 
assent  to  a  friendly  occupation  for  the  support  of  the 
Bey,  which  is  still  the  limit  of  French  avowal,  but  it 
was  another  thing  to  permit  the  Regency  to  degen- 
erate into  a  mere  French  province,  and  again  another 
thing  to  allow  that  province  to  be  used  as  a  blow  at 


£> 

our  commerce. 


Whatever  Lord  Salisbury  may  have  promised 
the  French  at  the  time  of  the  treaty  of  Berlin, 
he.  cannot  deny  that  he  has  now  formally  recog- 
nised their  occupation,  and  more  also.  He  himself 
said,  in  defending  his  action,  that,  by  international 


44  TUNISIA 

law,  when  one  country  took  over  another,  all  pre- 
existing treaties  lapsed ;  and  that,  as  the  French 
Government  of  Tunisia  possessed  a  far  better  life  than 
that  of  the  Regency,  he  thought  himself  wiser  in 
making  terms  with  the  French.  This  is,  however,  a 
rotten  chain  of  argument  from  beginning  to  end. 
In  the  first  place,  many  authorities  hold  that  when  one 
country  takes  over  another,  it  is  also  bound  to  take 
over  all  treaties  and  liabilities.  Secondly,  apart  from 
this  question,  the  French  say  that  they  have  not 
taken  over  Tunisia ;  and  Lord  Salisbury's  treaty 
therefore  concedes  to  them  what  they  have  not  yet 
asked  for,  and  what  we  ought  to  fight  tooth  and  nail 
to  prevent  their  obtaining. 

It  is  the  fact  of  the  treaty  which  is  the  blunder, 
not  so  much  the  details  of  it,  though  they  are 
objectionable  .enough.  The  question  of  cotonnades, 
for  instance,  though  by  no  means  trivial,  is  not 
of  paramount  interest.  As  one  of  the  Secretaries 
at  the  Residency  remarked  to  me  with  frank  cyni- 
cism, these  questions  are  easily  arranged  :  French 
diplomacy  concedes  a  few  centimes  on  the  import  of 
cottons,  and  we  give  up  a  certain  number  of  kilometres 
in  the  Niger  region.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten 
that  we  have  by  this  treaty  practically  surrendered  an 
important  market  to  France.  True,  there  remains 
a  show  of  our  retaining  most  favoured  nation  treat- 
ment, but  there  is  a  clause  in  our  treaty,  as  in  all 
others  recently  concluded  by  the  French  Government 
of  Tunis,  to  the  effect  that  this  phrase  shall  not  be 
held  to  include  France.  And  <roods  from  India, 


THE   MODERN    RARBARY    PIRATES  45 

which  docs  not   enjoy  the  benefits  of  most  favoured 
nation,  pay  seven  times  as  much  as  our  own. 

The  history  of  British  diplomacy  during  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  seems  to  be  one  long  series  of 
wasted  opportunities,  and  the  case  of  Tunis  stands 
out  amongst  them  all  with  painful  prominence.  Every 
one  is  agreed  that  Africa  must  be  the  scene  of  our 
inevitable  life-struggle  with  France,  and,  if  she  has 
not  contrived  to  make  of  Tunisia  a  potent  weapon 
against  us,  the  fault  is  assuredly  not  ours. 


Chapter   III 
THE  CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING 

Arabs  :  (i)  of  Tunis  and  the  Coast — Costume — Houses—  (2)  of  the 
Interior — Types — Dwellings — Industries — Costume — (3)  of  the 
Oases — Costume — Dwellings — Industries — Troglodytes — Home 
Life — Harems — Vulgarizing  by  Civilization — Women's  Rights — - 
Marriage  —  Divorce  —  Funerals  —  Food  —  Water-drinking— 
Drugs — Of  learning  Arabic — Greetings — Curses — Proverbs. 

EVERYTHING  about  the  Arabs  serves  to  emphasize 
their  innate  majesty  and  dignity,  which  are  just  as 
conspicuous  when  they  go  about  with  rags  and  bare 
feet  as  if  they  had  on  the  most  magnificent  cloaks  of 
cloth  of  gold.  The  nobility  of  their  expression  and 
the  majesty  of  their  gait  recall  the  patriarchs  of  the 
Bible  and  those  pastoral  kings  who  must  have  used 
much  the  same  plain  crooked  stick  for  their  sceptres, 
and  laid  down  the  law  with  the  same  quiet  determina- 
tion. And  their  dignity  is  only  equalled  by  their 
constant  courtesy  and  kindness.  Every  stranger  is 
made  welcome  at  their  modest  dwellings  in  so  open- 
handed  a  manner  that  their  hospitality  has  become 
proverbial.  Just  as  you  have  only  to  set  eyes  upon 
a  Yankee  to  know  him  for  an  impudent  vulgarian, 
so  the  first  sight  of  an  Arab  suffices  to  con- 


46 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING 


47 


vince   you    that    he     possesses    every    instinct    of   a 
gentleman. 

The   Arabs    of  Tunisia  are  of  a   somewhat   mixed 
race,   what    with   Berber    and  Carthaginian    ancestors 


and  the  varied  origins  oi  their  harems  ;  but  they  may 
be  roughly  divided  into  three  groups:  (i)  those  of 
Tunis  and  the  coast;  (2)  of  the  interior;  (3)  of  the 
oases. 


48  TUNISIA 

At  Tunis  and  along  the  coasts  they  are 

The  Arabs  of  .  * 

Tunis  and  the  remnants  of  the  ancient  civilization  of  the 

Coast. 

country,  which,  oddly  enough,  increases  as 
you  proceed  from  North  to  South.  At  Bizerta  you 
find  round  skulls  and  little  men,  recalling  the  Bretons 
and  Savoyards.  In  many  towns  the  descendants 
of  slaves  who  were  captured  by  the  Barbary  Corsairs 
are  easily  recognisable,  and  many  of  the  family  names 
such  as  Ingliz  (the  Englishman),  Maltiz  (the  Maltese) 
Genwiz  (the  Genoese),  Christou  (the  Christian), 
and  Franciz  (the  Frenchman),  testify  to  their 
origin. 

The  men   wear  a  long  blouse,  slit  at  the 

Costume.  .         .  ,  , 

sides  to  let  the  arms  through.  In  summer 
it  is  of  light  silk  or  cotton,  in  winter  of  light  Austrian 
cloth  or  wool — brown  or  red  stripes  for  choice.  Round 
the  sheshia  is  a  long  silk  or  cotton  turban,  twisted  up 
like  a  gigantic  snake.  The  slippers  have  high  heels 
and  are  elaborately  varnished,  but  are  too  short  for  the 
foot,  which  must  require  a  good  deal  of  practice  for  a 
steady  walk.  The  women  wear  trousers,  of  cotton 
or  velvet,  embroidered  with  silver  or  gold,  and 
little  cotton  or  silk  blouses,  which  do  not  come  down 
to  their  waists  ;  as  they  rarely  wear  anything  more 
than  a  cotton  knitting  underneath,  their  skin  remains 
visible.  On  grand  occasions,  instead  of  blouses,  they 
wear  a  vest  and  zouave  of  brocaded  silk  or  velvet 
embroidered  with  gold.  They  wear  as  much  jewel- 
lery as  they  can  afford,  including  bracelets  on  their 
arms  and  legs.  It  is  the  custom  to  make  up  a  good 
deal,  staining  their  eyes  and  eyebrows  with  kohl, 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING  49 

their  hands  with  henna,  their  lips  and  cheeks  with 
rouge. 

Men  of  the  lower  classes  of  Tunis  wear  a  cloak  of 
dark  brown  wool,  wide  knickerbockers,  or  a  kind  of 
striped  petticoat,  and  turbans  of  various  patterns.  The 
length  and  colour  of  the  blouse  vary  all  along  the 
coast.  At  Hammamet  it  is  light  brown  ;  at  Cape  Bon 
it  has  red  and  black  stripes  ;  at  Susa  it  is  of  light 
yellow  and  very  short.  A  native  can  always  tell  you 
where  a  man  conies  from  by  looking  at  his  clothes. 
Over  the  blouse  is  a  little  cloak  with  a  hood  and 
sleeves,  which  generally  hang  down  the  back  as  an 
ornament.  The  women  of  the  lower  classes  wear 
blouses  like  those  of  the  men,  but  wider  and  with- 
out sleeves  and  tight  at  the  waist.  They  are  some- 
times brown,  but  oftener  half  red  and  half  violet, 
while  the  poorest  content  themselves  with  blue  or 
white  cotton. 

At    Tunis    and    all    aloni?    the    coast    the 

Houses. 

people  are  house  dwellers,  and  the  main 
characteristic  is  a  patio,  or  central  courtyard,  with  all 
the  rooms  opening  on  to  it.  Most  of  the  rooms  arc 
T-shaped,  and  at  the  ends  of  the  bar  of  the  T  are 
hucre  family  beds  with  a  qreat  deal  of  ofilt  carving 

o  J  O  o  o  * 

Towards  the  streets  there  are  scarcely  any  windows,  and 
these  are  always  protected  against  inquisitive  eyes  by 
elaborately  carved  wooden  gratings.  The  flat  house- 
tops are  the  general  lounge,  and,  when  the  women 
wish  to  pay  visits  to  each  other,  they  usually  walk 
across  the  roofs.  Noisy  dogs  are  kept  there  at  night- 
time to  prevent  the  possibility  of  intrusion.  The 


50  TUNISIA 

inner  walls  are  generally  provided  with  shiny  tiles  of 
very  beautiful  colours,  and  in  rich  houses  these  are 
supplemented  with  exquisite  arabesques. 
The  Arabs  of  Even  in  the  interior  the  traveller  is  sur- 
lor'  prised  to  notice  the  lightness  of  the  com- 
plexions. If  he  arrives  with  the  ordinary  notion  that 
all  Orientals  are  a  kind  of  nigger,  it  will  be  a  revelation 
to  find  that  the  darkest  are  scarcely  swarthier  than 
the  average  Spaniard  or  Italian,  and  that  many  would 
be  considered  fair  in  England. 

There  are  two  main  types  :   (i)   the  purer 

Types. 

Arab  type,  found  chiefly  in  the  fertile  plains 
of  the  Mejerda,  Siliana,  Sers,  etc.,  which  are  very 
sparsely  populated,  and  afford  one  of  the  many  oppor- 
tunities for  colonization  which  the  French  have 
persistently  neglected.  The  chief  characteristics  are 
a  narrow,  beak-like  nose,  thin  lips,  a  retreating  chin, 
and  large,  almond-shaped  eyes.  (2)  The  Ibero- 
Numidian  type,  found  in  the  forests  of  Krumeria  and 
the  Mogod  country,  as  well  as  in  the  Southern  districts 
of  Tunisia.  The  foreheads  are  high  and  narrow, 
there  is  a  hollow  between  the  eyes,  and  the  jaws  are 
heavy.  Many  members  of  this  type  are  descended 
from  the  Moors,  who  took  refuge  in  Tunisia  after  their 
expulsion  from  Spain,  and  many  of  them  spoke 
Spanish  down  to  the  end  of  last  century. 

They  have  a    high   standard    of  comfort, 

Dwellings.  .......  ... 

and  live  either  in  picturesque  villages  or  in 
lofty  canvas  tents  divided  up  into  several  rooms. 
Some  of  them  prefer  fatgurbi,  a  kind  of  cabin,  which 
marks  the  stage  of  development  between  a  tent  and  a 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING  51 

house.  It  is  not  unlike  a  cattle-shed,  composed  of 
wooden  posts  and  thick  heaps  of  brushwood,  the  floor 
of  the  rooms  being  excavated  some  two  feet  below  the 
surface. 


industries        Their  industries  are  exceedingly  primitive. 

The    women    weave    the   hair  of  goats   and 

camels   into   mats,   and   the   men   carve    sticks,    llutcs, 

spoons,  sabots,  etc.,  in  geometrical  designs.      They  all 

make  rough  pots,  which  they  bake  themselves. 


52  TUNISIA 

„  4  All      Arab     countrywomen     wear     what 

Costume.  * 

answers  to  the  ancient  Greek  peplos.  It  is 
composed  of  two  separate  pieces  of  blue  blanket,  one 
worn  in  front  and  the  other  behind.  These  are  not 


GURIil. 


sewn  together  at  all,  but  are  pinned  to  the  shoulder  by 
a  rude  silver  brooch.  For  further  security  they  wear 
a  red  girdle,  tied  at  the  side  to  a  copper  ring.  On 
the  head  is  a  turban  with  a  floating  veil,  which  covers 
the  head  and  shoulders.  In  their  ears  are  hucre  silver 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING  53 

hoops,  tied  by  strings  to  their  turbans,  as  the  weight 
would  otherwise  injure  their  ears.  Round  the  neck  is 
a  collar  supporting  every  sort  of  ornament  and  amulet, 
hands  of  Fatima  in  copper  or  silver,  pieces  of  coral 


and  amber,  and  even  the  trouscr  buttons  of  French 
troopers.  The  men  wear  a  woollen  burnus  over  a 
cotton  shirt,  which  they  never  change  until  it  rots 
away.  On  their  heads  they  have  a  great  white 
turban  wrapped  round  the  ordinary  red  shcshia,  and 


54 


TUNISIA 


the  tightness  of  the  turban  often  deforms  their  heads 
in  a  grotesque  manner.  They  either  go  barefoot 
or  wear  yellow  sandals  or  woollen  slippers  with  green 
leather  soles. 


ARAB   COUNTRY    \VO.M  K.\. 


The  Arabs  of 
the  Cases. 


The  inhabitants  of  the  oases  have  a  bistre 
skin,  thick  lips,  receding  foreheads  and  chins. 
They  appear  to  be  descendants  of  white  Berbers 
and  Sudanese  negroes.  All  round  the  oases  are 


TVl'liS    01     \\OMI.N. 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING 


57 


numerous    tribes    of    nomadic    Arabs,  and,    both    in 

point    of    geography    and    population,  the    desert   is 
gaining  on  the  oases. 

In   the  oases   of  the  coast  the  men  wear 

Costume. 

a  brown  woollen   blouse  and  a  little  cloak. 


In  the  oases  of  the  interior  they  wrap  a  long  piece  of 
brown  woollen  stuff  round  them  like  a  toga.  The 
women  in  each  case  wear  the  blue  pcplos,  kept 
together  with  silver  brooches. 


TUNISIA 


Dwellings      Their  dwellings  are  a  poor  imitation  of  those 

in  the  towns.     You  find  stone  villages,  with 

the    rooms  opening    into   central    court-yards.       The 

various  quarters  of  a  village  are  generally  separated  by 


COUNTRY    \VOMKN. 


heavy  gates,  which  are  shut  at  night- fall ;  but  some- 
times there  is  merely  a  string  hung  across  the  road, 
and  this  is  found  nearly  as  effective. 

The   people   of  the   oases   are  very  hard- 
working, their  chief  occupation  consisting  in 


Industries. 


Troglodytes. 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING  59 

the  irrigation  of  the  various  gardens,  either  by  draw- 
ing water  from  wells,  by  an  Artesian  system  dating 
back  to  pre-historic  times,  or  by  an  elaborate  arrange- 
ment of  artificial  streams.  Carpets  are  made  near 
Gabes  and  blankets  at  Gafsa,  with  archaic  designs  in 
which  caravans,  camels,  crosses,  gnomes,  and  fishes 
predominate. 

One  of  the  peculiar  customs  of  the  oases  is  that  of 
eating  dogs'  flesh,  although  this  was  forbidden  by  the 
Koran.  In  extenuation  of  this,  the  natives  plead  that 
the  meat  is  a  wonderful  specific  against  fever. 

The     most     interesting     feature     of     the 

o 

Southern  districts  of  Tunisia  consists  in  the 
strange  dwellings,  either  handed  down  or  imitated 
from  prehistoric  times.  It  is  an  excellent  answer  to 
the  French,  and  other  people  who  believe  in  modern 
progress,  that  it  should  have  been  found  advantageous 
to  revert  to  a  kind  of  habitation  which  preceded  the 
invention  of  houses.  I  have  seen  cave-dwellers  in 
Eastern  Spain  ;  I  believe  there  are  still  some  in 
Japan  and  Mexico,  and  that  an  adaptation  of  the 
fashion  survives  at  P>ari  and  elsewhere ;  but  there 
is  certainly  no  other  place  in  the  world  where  the 
various  kinds  of  troglodytes  may  all  be  observed  so 
well  within  a  narrow  radius  as  in  the  South  of 
Tunisia.  Near  Shnini  the  caves  in  the  rocks  have 
been  taken  as  dwellings,  just  as  Nature  prepared 
them  thousands  of  years  ago.  In  neighbouring  hill- 
sides, the  caves  have  been  improved  by  scooping  them 
out  and  providing  them  with  rough  masonry  at  the 
entrance.  Hard  by  again,  you  may  witness  a  third 


60  TUNISIA 

stage  of  development,  the  natives  having  found  it  less 
troublesome,  and  more  in  accordance  with  tradition, 
to  scoop  their  dwellings  out  of  the  side  of  the  rock 
rather  than  build  houses  with  walls.  The  appearance 
of  one  of  these  villages,  consisting  of  a  succession 
of  burrows  beside  each  other  along  the  face  of  a  rock, 
is  fanciful  in  the  extreme,  and  suggests  the  abode  of 
rabbits  or  prairie  dogs  rather  than  human  beings. 

The  most  perfect  form  of  troglodyte  dwelling 
is  to  be  found  in  the  Matmata  plateau,  and  con- 
sists of  underground  rooms,  passages  and  staircases 
excavated  among  the  hills.  Not  only  is  it  impos- 
sible to  detect  the  troglodyte  dwellings  of  the 
Matmatas  from  a  distance,  but  even  when  you  are 
among  them  you  may  often  be  unaware  of  their 
neighbourhood,  and,  making  a  careless  step  in  a  hole, 
may  suddenly  find  yourself  landed  in  the  midst 
of  a  family  party  at  supper.  The  soil  is  peculiarly 
adapted  to  this  process,  being  at  the  same  time  soft 
enough  for  easy  excavation  and  hard  enough  not  to 
crumble  away.  The  most  curious  feature  about  this 
collection  of  troglodyte  dwellings  is  the  rudimentary 
approach  to  them,  which  consists  either  of  ledges  or 
projecting  stones,  used  as  rough  steps,  which  have 
been  left  in  the  original  rock  or  else  added  in  the 
form  of  masonry  or  wood-work.  The  troglodytes 
seem  to  possess  the  agility  of  monkeys,  and  it  is  an 
extraordinary  sight  to  watch  the  men,  and  particularly 
the  women,  with  huge  burdens  upon  their  backs, 
making  their  way  up  the  sheer  side  of  a  cliff.  They 
may  also  be  observed  on  a  fine  day  squatting  and 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING 


61 


even  sleeping  upon  these  ledges  at  the  entrance  to 
their  lairs.  In  the  event  of  a  disturbance,  a  rockful 
of  cave-dwellers  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to 
dislodge  from  their  natural  fortifications  ;  but  as  they 
are  among  the  most  peaceful  and  law-abiding  of  the 


population,  the  French  may  safely  be  advised  to 
leave  them  undisturbed,  if  only  for  the  curiosity  of 
this  strange  revival  of  the  habits  of  prehistoric  men. 

The  method  of  building  in  use  among  the  troglodytes 
of  the  Matmatas  is  as  follows  :  First  of  all  a  cubic 
space  some  thirty  feet  at  the  base  is  hewn  out  of  the 


62  TUNISIA 

rock  to  make  the  patio  or  courtyard  of  the  dwelling. 
When  this  is  complete,  the  various  other  rooms  are 
built  with  openings  on  to  it,  as  in  the  case  of  all  Arab 
houses,  and  a  passage  in  the  rock  leads  to  the  stables. 
At  Shnini,  among  the  Rhumeracen  and  elsewhere  in 
the  South,  the  natives  remove  all  the  soft  rock  which 
separates  two  calcareous  strata  on  the  side  of  a  hill, 
and  then  proceed  to  build  a  stone  frontage  to  the 
cavern  thus  hollowed  out.  In  some  of  the  troglodyte 
dwellings,  when  the  excavation  was  made,  pieces  of 
the  original  rock  were  left  inside,  to  form  natural 
tables  and  beds  and  divans. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  sights  in 
the  world  is  that  of  a  lofty  mountain  of  troglodyte 
dwellings  standing  out  against  the  sky.  The  rock 
itself  forms  a  natural  fortress,  with  natural  turrets 
and  battlements,  and  is  crenelated  with  the  doorways 
of  the  dwellings  which  have  been  scooped  out  inside. 

At  Mednin  we  find  the  very  last  stage  of  troglo- 
dyte dwelling.  It  is  no  longer  a  cave,  in  any  sense 
of  the  word,  but  its  architecture  is  evidently  modelled 
upon  that  of  cave- dwellings  scooped  out  of  the  side  of 
the  rock.  It  consists  of  a  high,  rugged  wall  with  rude 
door-ways,  dotted  about  above  each  other  and  beside 
each  other  in  the  most  haphazard  manner  imaginable, 
and  there  are  ledges  of  masonry  for  the  inhabitants 
to  clamber  up  into  their  hovels.  Dwirat  is  perhaps  the 
most  striking  and  characteristic  of  the  mountain-side 
troglodyte  towns,  and  Tatawin  is  a  village  more  or 
less  troglodyte  in  its  construction.  But  Shnini  is  the 
most  mysterious  of  the  troglodyte  towns,  having  the 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING  63 

appearance  of  a  great  white  natural  fortress  from  the 
outside.  The  inhabitants  used  to  have  close  relations 
with  the  Tuaregs,  and  would  no  doubt  continue  to  do  so, 
but  for  the  vigilance  of  the  adjoining  French  garrison. 
The  dialect  of  this  region  is  much  more  nearly  related 
to  that  of  the  Tuaregs  than  to  any  form  of  Arabic. 
Judging  from  the  remains  of  Punic  and  Roman  times 
remaining  there,  it  must  always  have  been  a  position 
of  some  importance,  despite  the  inhospitable  character 
of  the  district  So  accurately  have  the  troglodytes 
adapted  their  masonry  to  the  character  of  the  original 
rock,  that  it  becomes  a  matter  of  great  difficulty  to 
distinguish  the  original  from  the  artificial ;  and  one 
may  be  pardoned  for  imagining  that  their  dwellings 
have  been  in  great  part  the  work  of  Jinns. 

The  troglodytes  are  not  the  barbarians  one  might 
imagine  them  to  be,  judging  merely  by  the  elementary 
character  of  their  houses.  Not  only  do  they  have  a 
number  of  primitive  but  ingenious  home  industries, 
but  they  are  in  considerable  demand  among  the  in- 
habitants of  the  whole  Regency  as  cooks. 

They  are  proud  of  their  dwellings,  which  in  many 
cases  are  exceedingly  comfortable  and  furnished  with 
some  amount  of  luxury.  They  boast  also  that  this  is 
the  natural  form  of  dwelling,  providing  them  as  it 
does  with  the  warmth  of  a  Moorish  bath  in  winter 
and  the  freshness  of  a  well  in  the  height  of  summer. 

o 

The    Arabs   carry   the   patriarchal   system 

Home  Life.  /  l  J 

to  the  utmost  limits,  the  head  of  a  family 
being  an  absolute  master  and,  if  he  choose,  an  abso- 
lute tyrant.  As  a  rule  he  takes  his  meals  apart  from 


64  TUNISIA 

the  rest  of  the  family,  but  sometimes  he  permits  the 
presence  of  some  of  his  elder  sons.  The  women  and 
younger  children  always  have  their  meals  afterwards, 
and  with  very  little  ceremony,  contenting  themselves 
with  scraps  and,  oftener  than  not,  eating  them  stand- 
ing. When  one  of  the  sons  is  married,  the  bride  is 
simply  an  additional  member  of  the  household,  with 
no  privacy,  and  no  rights  or  privileges  of  her  own. 
The  servants,  even  when  they  are  nominally  free, 
occupy  very  much  the  same  position  as  slaves  used 
to  do  in  the  olden  times.  Their  position,  however,  is 
not  very  different  from  that  of  other  members  of  the 
family.  No  one  receives  wages  or  pocket  money,  but 
all  expenses  are  provided  by  the  head  of  the  house- 
hold, and  every  one  is  at  his  beck  and  call.  It  is 
interesting  to  compare  the  economy  and  organization 
of  an  Arab  household  with  that  of  the  Slav  sadruge, 
which  I  have  discussed  in  another  work. 

We  in  England  are  very  fond  of  boasting 

Harems.  £         .  ,    J  ° 

about  the  Englishman  s  house  being  his 
castle,  but  it  is  more  like  a  public-house  if  we  compare 
it  to  the  dwelling  of  a  Muhammadan ;  and,  though 
privacy  is  all  very  well  in  theory,  it  certainly  has  its 
drawbacks  in  practice  when  carried  to  such  an  ex- 
treme. As  no  officer  of  the  law  may  violate  a  harem, 
there  is  obviously  no  safeguard  for  the  life  and  liberty 
of  its  inmates.  If  any  one  disappears  in  a  Muham- 
madan country,  the  harem  system  renders  a  search 
extremely  difficult.  An  ill-disposed  person  has  only  to 
carry  off  his  enemy  into  his  house  secretly,  in  order  to 
keep  him  a  prisoner  for  life,  and  even  torture  him  or 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING  65 

kill  him.  Mr.  Marion  Crawford  founded  a  very  excit- 
ing story,  called  "Paul  Patoff,"  on  this  state  of  things, 
and  none  of  his  facts  seem  to  have  been  in  the  least 
degree  exaggerated.  As  there  is  practically  no  re- 
gistration of  births  and  deaths  among  the  Muham- 
madans,  murder  is  made  all  the  more  easy ;  and  in 
any  case  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  disposing  of 
inconvenient  bodies  in  a  place  which  no  stranger 
may  enter. 

Slavery,  too,  is  an  obvious  result  of  the  system. 
The  whole  civilized  world  has  now  spent  its  energies 
for  the  greater  part  of  a  century  in  trying  to  put 
down  slavery;  but  all  it  has  contrived  to  accomplish 
is  a  restriction  of  the  public  buying  and  selling  of 
slaves.  By  resorting  to  fictitious  marriages,  and  other 
subterfuges,  the  owner  of  a  harem  may  procure  as 
many  slaves  as  he  pleases,  and  once  he  has  got  them 
into  his  house,  no  one  can  possibly  interfere  to  release 
them.  Slaves  can,  of  course,  escape  and  claim  pro- 
tection from  the  Consulates,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  are  generally  quite  contented  with  their  position, 
and  know  that  such  action  could  only  involve  them 
in  ruin. 

The  harems  of  Tunis  are  much  more  difficult  to 
visit  than  those  of  Turkey  or  Egypt,  for  the  Tunisian 
Arabs  are  particularly  strict  about  keeping  their  wives 
from  contact  with  Europeans.  Of  course  there  is  no 
great  difficulty  about  visiting  a  poor  harem  through 
a  guide,  but  you  do  not  see  there  the  beautiful  carv- 
ings and  costumes  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  more 
exclusive  households.  Mrs.  Vivian  was,  however, 

V 


66  TUNISIA 

fortunate  enough,  through  the  kindness  of  the  wife  of 
a  French  attache,  to  see  a  particularly  fine  harem  in 
the  heart  of  the  Arab  quarter. 

"  We  passed  through  heavy  entrance  gates,"  she 
says,  "like  those  of  a  convent,  and  found  ourselves  in 
a  small  square,  where  we  were  confronted  by  a  huge 
door,  thickly  studded  with  nails  of  all  sorts  of  patterns 
and  devices.  Fatima's  hand  and  the  sign  of  the 
lyre  are  always  introduced  somewhere  into  the  deco- 
ration, in  order  to  ward  off  the  evil  eye.  These  doors 
are  a  great  feature  of  Tunis  houses,  and  many  very 
beautiful  specimens  are  to  be  seen  in  various  parts  of 
the  town.  A  fat  negress  in  gorgeous  raiment  opened 
to  us,  and  we  found  ourselves  in  a  big  stone  hall  with 
long  divans  covered  with  matting.  Here  the  men  of 
the  family  sometimes  sit,  and  it  is  the  only  place  in 
the  house  where  they  may  receive  male  visitors. 

"  Passing  through,  we  came  to  a  large  patio,  or  open 
court- yard,where  beautiful  slender  white  marble  columns 
harmonized  exquisitely  with  dazzling  white  arabesques 
of  infinitely  delicate  patterns,  and  walls  covered  with 
old  tiles  of  many  soothing  colours.  A  little  fountain 
was  playing  in  the  middle,  and  a  pretty  gazelle  began  to 
caper  about  at  our  approach.  We  were  led  straight 
up  into  the  best  bedroom,  where  we  found  our  hostess 
clad  in  all  her  bravery  and  smiling  on  us  with  bland 
benevolence.  She  was  a  funny  little  fat  stumpy 
woman,  probably  considered  a  great  beauty  in  Tunisia. 
She  had  a  round  good-tempered  face,  a  pink-and- 
white  complexion  not  wholly  guiltless  of  rouge,  dark 
eyes  touched  up  with  kohl,  and  very  scanty  dark  hair, 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING     67 

parted  in  the  middle  and  brushed  most  smoothly  away 
under  her  cap  and  veil.  She  wore  white  silk  trousers, 
and  a  short,  loose  coat  of  brilliant  rose-coloured 
brocade  embroidered  in  pink  and  silver.  Her  bright 
yellow,  high-heeled  shoes,  elaborately  worked  in  gold, 
were  at  least  three  sizes  too  small  for  her,  and  she 
hobbled  about  so  painfully  in  them  that  we  expected 
every  moment  to  see  her  fall  on  her  nose.  Her  little 
fat  fingers  were  covered  ri^ht  clown  to  the  knuckles 

O  *-> 

with  rings.  Of  these  she  was  evidently  very  proud, 
as  she  constantly  spread  out  her  hands  for  us  to  admire 
them.  Various  chains  were  hung  round  her  neck, 
and  she  had  an  immense  variety  of  brooches  and 
other  ornaments  fastened  into  her  dress  and  hair. 
She  was  probably  about  eighteen,  but  she  looked  five- 
and-thirty  at  least. 

"  She  shook  hands  with  us,  and  an  attendant  placed 
chairs  for  us  opposite  hers.  It  is  considered 
terribly  modern  to  use  chairs  in  a  harem,  the  usual 
habit  being  to  squat  cross-legged  on  cushions,  or 
even  on  the  floor,  as  was  done  in  all  the  other 
rooms  we  entered.  This  was  also  the  only  room  that 
possessed  a  table.  In  the  others  everything,  from 
pickle-making  to  the  fabrication  of  kiis-kns,  the 
national  dish,  was  done  on  the  lloor.  The  best  bed- 
room was  comparatively  tidy,  but  everywhere  else  I 
observed  the  most  terrible  confusion.  Old  Vichy 
water  bottles  were  strewn  about  in  all  directions,  and  I 
had  to  walk  warily  to  avoid  knocking  them  over  with 
my  dress.  The  whole  family  seemed  to  be  in  a  state 
of  picnic,  which  I  believe  is  the  usual  thing  in  Arab 


68  TUNISIA 

houses.  On  all  hands,  however,  there  were  beautiful 
arabesque  decorations  and  tiles.  My  friend  praised 
them  enthusiastically  in  French  and  by  signs, — neither 
our  host  nor  our  hostess  understood  a  word  of  any- 
thing but  Arabic — but  I  was  more  cautious,  knowing 
that  Arabs  generally  dislike  to  have  their  possessions 
admired,  and  do  not  make  allowances  for  European 
manners. 

"  It  is  considered  particularly  unlucky  to  admire 
children,  as  this  is  thought  to  expose  them  to  the 
evil  eye.  There  were  some  very  pretty  little  girls 
playing  about,  but  I  am  afraid  that  I  must  have  dis- 
tressed their  parents  very  much  by  my  admiration  of 
them,  as  I  did  not  remember  that  the  correct  thing  to 
say  was,  '  Tabark  Allah, — may  God  preserve  them 
from  the  evil  eye.'  When  a  really  well-bred  Arab 
goes  to  call  on  a  friend,  he  says  with  a  sweet  smile, 
'  What  a  hole  this  is.  Have  you  ever  seen  human 
beings  live  in  such  a  tumble-down  hovel  before?  It 
really  isn't  fit  to  put  horses  in.'  Then  the  host  is 
delighted,  for  he  knows  that  his  friend  in  his  heart 
thinks  everything  charming,  and  that  he  is  merely 
trying  to  keep  the  Jinns,  or  evil  spirits,  off  the  scent ; 
as,  if  they  heard  the  house  being  admired,  they  would 
certainly  pounce  down  and  do  some  harm. 

"  In  Tunis  you  are  always  received  in  the  best  bed- 
room, which  is  invariably  hung  with  bright  butter- 
coloured  brocade  or  satin.  The  rooms  are  shaped  like 
a  T  upside  down,  and  the  furniture  is  always  more 
or  less  alike.  In  each  corner  is  an  elaborately  carved 
bed,  sometimes  entirely  gilt,  sometimes  of  black  wood 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING     69 

with  a  gigantic  gilt  '  Fatima's  hand '  above  it,  to  pro- 
tect the  sleepers  from  the  evil  eye.  In  front  is  a  small 
low  bed  where  the  children  sleep.  At  the  side  of  the 
bed  stands  a  lofty  grandfather's  clock,  which  always 
seems  to  have  stopped  short  never  to  go  again.  Be- 
side each  clock  is  a  high  mirror-wardrobe,  thickly 
ornamented  with  ormolu.  Facing  each  wardrobe  is 
a  chest  of  drawers  with  a  marble  top,  on  which  is 
collected  an  amazing  array  of  the  most  rubbishy 
artificial  flowers  under  glass  cases.  It  is  further 
decorated  with  atrocious  vases,  such  as  would  be 
scouted  in  the  smallest  English  cottage,  but  which  are 
considered  in  Tunis  the  very  essence  of  fine  art.  The 
ceilings  are  beautifully  painted  and  gilded,  and  round 
the  upper  part  of  the  walls  there  are  arabesques,  form- 
ing a  deep  frieze.  In  this  house  the  walls  were  laden 
with  mirrors  in  elaborate  gilt  frames,  which,  our  host 
proudly  informed  us,  had  come  all  the  way  from 
Belgium. 

"  The  maid-servants,  in  their  best  clothes,  stood 
round  their  mistress,  staring  at  us,  very  curious, 
and  vastly  amused.  Presently  one  of  them  brought 
in  some  thick  Moorish  coffee,  which  was  excellent. 
My  friend  then  asked  our  host  if  he  would  allow 
his  wife  to  come  and  have  tea  with  her  one  day,  as 
she  lived  near.  She  promised  not  to  let  her  hus- 
band or  an)-  other  man  come  near  the  house  all  that 
afternoon  ;  but  the  man  was  quite  angry,  and  answered 
roughly  '  No ! '  A  Tunisian  lady  of  high  rank  is 
never,  under  any  circumstances,  allowed  to  go  out,  as 
she  would  be  in  Turkey  or  Egypt.  When  she  goes 


70  TUNISIA 

to  her  husband's  palace  in  the  country,  a  carriage  is 
drawn  into  the  courtyard,  she  gets  in,  and  brightly 
coloured  curtains  are  drawn  tightly  across  each 
window.  The  carriage  is  then  taken  into  the  street, 
the  mules  are  put  in,  and  a  guard  mounts  on  the  box. 
When  she  arrives  at  her  destination,  she  is  not  allowed 
to  alight  until  the  carriage  is  safely  inside  the  court- 
yard, and  even  then  she  sometimes  has  to  veil.  Many 
an  Arab  lady  never  leaves  her  house  from  the  time 
she  is  married  until  she  is  carried  out  to  be  buried. 
"A  woman  of  the  middle  class  is  allowed  more 
liberty,  and  occasionally  goes  out  for  walks,  accom- 
panied as  a  rule  by  a  servant.  The  poor  creature  is 
enveloped  in  masses  of  white  drapery,  which  make  her 
look  like  a  walking  bundle,  and  in  front  of  her  face 
she  arranges  a  large  black  scarf  embroidered  with  red, 
blue,  and  white  flowers.  It  falls  to  her  knees,  and, 
even  by  holding  up  the  ends,  she  cannot  see  more  than 
a  foot  or  two  of  the  road  before  her.  I  often  wonder 
that  she  does  not  get  run  over  when  she  goes  out 
alone,  for  I  am  sure  she  needs  a  dog  to  guide  her 
quite  as  much  as  any  blind  man.  Servants  and  other 
women  of  the  lower  classes  wear  pieces  of  black  crepon 
wound  tightly  round  their  faces,  leaving  just  a  slit  for 
their  eyes  to  peer  through,  and  they  are  equally 
muffled  up  in  white  draperies.  Seen  from  a  distance, 
they  might  be  men  with  masks  or  thick  black  beards, 
as  in  Arab  countries  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  tell 
a  man  from  a  woman  at  first  sight.  The  older  and 
uglier  a  woman  is,  the  more  prudish  she  seems  to  be 
about  covering  up  her  face,  which,  after  all,  is  rather 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING  71 

considerate  on  her  part.  Even  the  greater  number  of 
the  negresses  wear  the  yashmak,  but  the  Bedouin 
women  never  do.  Indeed,  I  am  told  that  among  the 
Tuaregs  there  is  a  tribe  whose  men  wear  veils  and 


whose  women  go  about  with   their  faces   uncovered. 
These  are  probably  the   '  New  Women '  of  Africa. 

"  As  may  be  imagined,  a  regular  conversation  was  by 
no  means  easy  with  a  hostess  who  spoke  nothing  but 
Arabic  ;  so  she  occupied  herself  with  a  minute  ex- 
amination of  our  dresses.  What  she  particularly  en- 


72  TUNISIA 

joyed  was  pulling-  at  my  coat  and  investigating  the 
embroidery  upon  it.  Then  the  whole  family  would 
gather  round  me  and  pluck  at  my  things,  being 
especially  interested  in  my  long  tortoiseshell  eye- 
glasses. I  came  off  very  well,  though,  as  they  con- 
tented themselves  with  patting  me  gently,  and  discuss- 
ing my  raiment  with  each  other.  Some  people  are 
not  so  lucky,  as  I  was  told  by  an  Englishman  who 
lives  in  Tunisia.  When  the  Duchess  of  Saxe-Coburg 
Gotha  was  in  Tunis,  she  was  very  anxious  to  see  a 
harem,  so  he  arranged  for  her  to  visit  the  house  of  an 
old  Arab  friend  of  his.  He  said  to  the  man,  '  The 
lady  who  is  coming  to  see  you  is  the  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  of  all  the  Russias,  and  has  married  the  son 
of  an  English  Queen.'  The  old  man  was  too  polite  to 
show  any  incredulity ;  but  when  he  saw  a  little  lady 
dressed  in  ordinary  European  clothes  he  was  quite 
convinced  that  he  was  being  hoaxed.  A  great 
Princess,  he  said  to  himself,  could  not  possibly  go 
about  except  attended  by  a  large  suite  and  attired  in 
brocade  or  cloth  of  gold.  The  Duchess  came  out  of 
the  house  terribly  dishevelled,  for  the  women  had 
pulled  her  hair  about,  taken  the  combs  out  of  her  hair 
to  look  at  them,  tugged  at  her  dress  to  see  how  strong 
the  material  was,  and  even  attempted  to  undo  it  to 
find  out  what  she  wore  underneath.  She  was  im- 
mensely amused,  but  declared  that,  now  she  had  seen 
one  harem,  she  was  satisfied,  and  had  no  desire  ever 
to  visit  another.  Very  many  Tunisian  women  have 
never  seen  an  European,  so  they  are  very  curious 
about  our  clothes. 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING     7?, 

"  When  I  was  taken  over  the  house,  I  noticed  a 
great  number  of  cages  containing  cheerful  little  singing 
birds,  which  are  always  a  great  feature  of  Tunisian 
houses.  One  small  dark  bird  the  Arabs  are  very  fond 
of;  they  think  it  brings  them  luck,  and  call  it  the 
'  Father  of  Friends.' 

"  As  in  most  Tunisian  houses,  the  rooms  were 
draped  with  yellow  silk,  the  beds  were  gorgeously 
gilt,  and  the  walls  covered  with  mirrors  in  heavy 
gold  frames.  The  kitchen  was  the  most  cheerful 
part  of  the  house.  There  must  have  been  nearly 
a  dozen  women  bustling  about  preparing  the  evening 
meal.  There  were  no  stoves,  but  half  a  dozen  little 
braziers  were  dotted  about  on  the  ground,  while 
the  cook  squatted  down  beside  them  to  arrange 
the  food.  Big  heaps  of  vegetables  and  vivid  scarlet 
chillies  were  scattered  about  to  be  used  for  the  kns- 
/CHS,  and  bowls  of  bright-coloured  sauces  were  being 
mixed  for  it.  Needless  to  say,  all  the  preparations 
were  made  on  the  ground. 

"  A  rich  Arab's  wife  leads  a  very  lazy  sort  of  life. 
She  has  absolutely  no  education,  -  and  leaves  the 
management  of  her  house  to  servants,  though  it  some- 
limes  amuses  her  to  do  a  little  cooking.  Her  day  is 
usually  taken  up  with  bathing,  dressing,  and  sleeping. 
There  are  bands  of  negresses,  who  go  round  the 
harems  dancing  and  playing  on  two-stringed  instru- 
ments, tambourines  and  castanets,  or  singing  in  harsh, 
cracked  voices.  Some  of  these  negresses  are  lively 
and  entertaining, and  are  in  great  request  as  story-tellers. 

"  A  great  Arab  lady  is  never  allowed  to  sec  a  man 


74  TUNISIA 

if  it  is  possible  to  avoid  it ;  or,  rather,  he  is  not 
allowed  to  see  her,  for  she  manages  to  catch  sight  of 
people,  even  through  her  double  lattices  of  wood  and 
iron.  Her  brother  may  only  visit  her  with  her  hus- 
band's permission.  When  she  is  ill,  and  it  is  absolutely 
imperative  that  a  doctor  should  be  sent  for,  great  are 
the  preparations.  A  servant  has  to  be  in  attendance 
and  hides  her  completely  under  the  bed  clothes.  Sup- 
posing that  her  pulse  has  to  be  felt,  then  the  servant 
covers  her  hand  and  arm  so  carefully  that  only  the 
wrist  is  visible.  If  she  has  hurt  her  back,  a  hole  is 
made  in  the  sheets  so  that  the  doctor  may  just  be 
able  to  see  the  injured  place.  If  he  insists  upon  seeing 
her  tongue,  the  precautions  are  still  more  elaborate, 
and  the  attendant  covers  her  face  with  both  hands,  just 
leaving  room  between  the  fingers  that  she  may  put  out 
her  tongue. 

"  We  may  come  away  from  harems  with  senti- 
ments of  pity  for  the  prisoners,  but  they  themselves 
are  quite  content.  Strangely  enough,  it  is  the 
women  who  are  most  against  any  reform.  They  look 
on  Europeans  with  horror  and  sometimes  with  amaze- 
ment ;  and  I  think  it  will  be  long  before  the  New 
Woman  makes  her  appearance  in  Tunisian  harems." 
One  of  the  worst  results  of  the  French 

Vulgarizing  •         •         i        •    n 

byciviiiza-  occupation  is  the  influence  upon  native  cos- 
tumes and  native  art,  which  will  certainly  die 
away  before  very  long.  Every  lady  who  visits  a 
harem  tells  you  that  the  inmates  take  the  greatest 
pride  in  any  trumpery  European  clothes  or  ornaments 
which  they  may  have  contrived  to  secure,  and  think 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING 


/o 


nothing  of  their  own  beautiful  native  handiworks.  A 
missionary  lady  told  me  that  very  often  an  Arab 
woman  of  the  country  districts  would  show  her  with 
great  glee  an  hideous  and  objectionable  picture  of  an 
European  dancing  woman,  or  other  professional  beauty, 
taken  from  a  half-penny  paper  or  the  cover  of  a  choco- 
late box,  exclaiming,  "  You  will  like  to  see  this.  Here 
is  a  picture  of  a  Christian  woman.  Is  it  not  beautiful  ? 
Whenever  I  look  at  it  I  shall  be  reminded  of  you." 
When  the  missionary  derided  the  work  of  art,  there 
was  great  consternation,  and  the  natives  would  shuffle 
it  away  sorrowfully,  saying,  with  tears  in  their  eyes, 
that  they  would  never  look  at  it  again.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  expression  of  bewilderment  on  the  face  of 
an  Arab  woman  when  a  missionary  lady,  supposed  to 
be  making  a  mere  visit  of  ceremony,  suddenly  em- 
barked upon  an  harangue  about  pureness  of  heart.  I 
remonstrated  with  the  lady  afterwards,  and  told  her 
that  she  would  have  done  much  better  to  leave  these 
people  alone  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  religion  which  did 
far  more  than  Christianity  does  in  Europe  to  keep 
people  straight.  She  admitted  with  some  reluctance 
that  Muhammadanism  had  many  good  points,  but 
presently  she  turned  up  the  whites  of  her  eyes  and 
remarked  with  unctuous  fanaticism,  "Alas!  poor 
people,  their  condition  is  pitiable,  for  they  have  no 
knowledge  of  salvation  !  " 
women's  She  assured  me  that  the  spiritual  position 

Rights.          c      ,  .....  , 

of  the  women  in  the  interior  is  worse  than 
that  of  the  men,  a  Muhnmmadan  being  by  no 
means  sure  that  a  woman  possesses  a  soul.  She  added 


76  TUNISIA 

that  the  women  rarely  trouble  to  say  their  prayers, 
and,  more  important  still,  that  they  do  not  consider 
themselves  bound  so  completely  by  the  ordinances  of 
cleanliness.  This  would  be  regrettable,  for  they  must, 
like  all  women,  have  a  great  deal  to  say  to  the  rearing 
of  male  children,  who  will  be  influenced  by  the  ideas 
of  their  mothers  even  though  they  may  be  taught  to 
consider  them  of  little  or  no  account.  But  I  am 
told  that  this  is  after  all  not  the  case,  and  that  the 
women  observe  the  ordinances  of  religion  more  strictly 
than  the  men.  Also  that  a  woman  has  great  power 
in  the  house.  It  is  said  that,  if  the  husband  finds  his 
wife's  shoes  outside  the  door  of  her  room,  he  does  not 
dare  to  enter. 

I  could  not  help  being  interested  by  the  difference 
in  consideration  paid,  by  women  as  well  as  men,  to 
children  according  to  their  sex.  The  landlady  of  my 
hotel  at  Kairwan  had  a  native  nurse  for  her  little  boy, 
and  told  me,  as  I  could  see  for  myself,  that  the  woman 
was  its  most  abject  slave  ;  but  she  added  that,  had 
it  been  a  girl,  it  would  probably  have  been  left  to 
its  own  devices,  and  would  have  received  scarcely  any 
attention  at  all. 

Those   who  grumble   about    marriages   of 

Marriage. 

convenience  with  us  had  better  not  become 
Moslems.  It  is  rare  with  them  that  the  bridegroom 
sees  the  bride  until  the  actual  wedding  day.  Some 
interpreters  of  the  Koran  say  that  a  young  man,  who 
is  likely  to  be  accepted,  may  be  allowed  a  glimpse  of 
his  future  wife's  face  and  the  palms  of  her  hands, — the 
latter  evidently  that  he  may  judge  her  character  and 


THE   CHILDREN  OF   THE   MORNING  77 

future  by  palmistry.  But  most  Moslem  bachelors 
have  to  trust  to  go-betweens  or  parents.  Either  the 
mother  visits  friends'  harems  and  chooses  a  bride 
according  to  her  taste,  or  fathers  put  their  heads 
together  and  make  up  a  match  according  to  their 
interests,  or  else  the  young  man  relies  upon  a  profes- 
sional match-maker.  He  explains  to  her  exactly  what 
he  wants,  often  in  the  words  of  an  old  Arab  song,  which 
says,  "  She  must  be  not  too  fat  and  not  too  thin,  she 
must  have  the  black  eyes  of  a  gazelle,  cheeks  like 
masses  of  roses,  a  neck  like  an  antelope  .  .  .  and 
her  tongue  must  not  be  too  long." 

Only  in  two  cases  can  he  know  his  future  wife  by 
sight :  she  may  be  either  a  relation  or  a  slave.  As 
several  branches  of  a  family  often  live  together,  cousins 
of  both  sexes  are  brought  up  in  each  other's  society 
until  they  are  nearly  old  enough  to  be  married.  It  is 
not,  therefore,  surprising  that  young  men,  when  called 
upon  to  marry,  should  remember  the  friends  of  their 
childhood  and  prefer  them  to  strangers.  "  Marry 
strangers,"  says  the  Koran,  but  the  advice  is  not 
always  followed,  and  there  is  a  popular  saying  that 
"  He  is  a  fool  who  marries  a  stranger  when  his  cousin 
awaits  him." 

As  to  the  other  method  ot  acquaintance,  it  will  no 
doubt  surprise  a  good  many  people  to  hear  how 
largely  slavery  still  exists  even  in  civilized  countries. 
Not  only  in  Turkey,  but  in  Algeria  and  Tunis  under 
the  French  llai^,  even  in  Eirvpt  under  our  own,  very 

O  t>  s   1  » 

many  harems  are  still  recruited  by  means  of  the   slave 
trade.     When  a  man  wants  slaves  nowadays,   he   does 


78  TUNISIA 

not  send  traders  or  raiders  to  Uganda,  but  he  applies 
to  some  well-known  purveyor  in  Constantinople  or 
Asia  Minor,  a  marriage  contract  is  drawn  up,  and  all 
the  ceremonies  of  legal  wedlock  are 'gone  through. 
The  women  thus  obtained  are  nominally  wives,  but  in 
reality  slaves.  They  are  bought  for  money,  they  are 
not  consulted  about  the  sale,  and  they  cannot  go  away 
if  they  are  discontented. 

The  ceremony  of  an  Arab  marriage  is  a  lengthy 
affair,  often  lasting  a  whole  week.  When  a  match  has 
been  decided  upon,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  bargaining 
as  to  the  dowry  which  shall  be  paid.  The  girl's  father 
talks  of  selling  her  for  a  certain  sum,  but  this  is  only  a 
relic  of  old  fashions,  for  the  dowry  is  strictly  tied  up, 
and  the  wife  alone  can  touch  it  or  bequeath  it.  When 
the  price  has  been  fixed,  the  man  sends  all  sorts  of 
presents  :  henna  to  stain  her  nails  red,  paint  for  her 
face,  scents,  five-branched  candles  to  avert  the  evil  eye, 
dried  fruits,  embroidered  shoes,  and  a  gold  coin  to  pay 
the  woman  who  dresses  her  on  her  wedding  day.  If 
he  means  to  be  very  attentive,  he  adds  flowers,  and 
even  poetry  of  his  own  composition.  Such  is  the 
extent  of  the  Oriental  imagination,  that  he  often  per- 
suades himself  he  is  seriously  in  love  with  a  girl  he 
has  never  seen.  The  girl's  only  contribution  to  the 
new  household  is  a  certain  number  of  mules  laden  with 
silk  stuffs  and  gilt  furniture.  It  is  a  frequent  sight  in 
Arab  towns  to  behold  a  procession  of  these  mules, 
accompanied  by  the  young  men  of  the  bride's  family, 
wearing  branches  of  jasmine  over  their  ears.  Her 
father  gives  her  no  other  dowry,  but  she  takes  her 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING     79 

share  of  the  family  inheritance  after  his  death.  The 
day  before  the  wedding,  the  bridegroom  goes  to  the 
steam  bath  and  gives  a  banquet  to  his  friends,  while 
the  bride  has  her  nails  stained,  her  eyebrows  blackened, 
and  her  cheeks  painted  by  her  friends.  Then  she 
is  brought  with  much  ceremony  to  her  new  home, 
where  there  is  feasting  during  many  days.  Lambs  are 
roasted  whole,  and  large  quantities  of  coffee  and  sher- 
bet are  consumed.  Public  dancers  are  hired,  and 
there  is  an  incessant  beating  of  drums,  clashing  of 
cymbals,  and  twanging  of  mandolines. 

I  saw  in  one  village  of  Tunisia  a  very  unhappy 
young  woman,  who  was  said  to  be  sixteen  years  of  age, 
but  looked  at  least  thirty  according  to  our  notions. 
She  had  been  married  six  months  before  and  divorced 
within  two  months  of  her  wedding,  whereupon  she 
had  simply  returned  to  her  father's  house  and  resumed 
her  old  life  there  ;  but  she  had  lost  much  of  the  con- 
sideration of  her  relations  and  neighbours.  This  sort 
of  thing,  I  was  told,  is  by  no  means  uncommon,  the 
cause  of  it  usually  being  the  difficulty  of  getting  on 
with  the  husband's  various  female  relations,  who  all 
live  under  one  roof.  A  woman  may  succeed  in  satis- 
fying her  husband,  but  she  has  to  be  specially  accom- 
modating in  order  to  find  complete  favour  in  the  eyes 
of  her  mother-in-law  and  her  husband's  sisters  and 
aunts. 

In    theory,    either    husband    or  wife   may 

Divorce.         .  ' 

divorce  the  other  by  a  simple  formality, 
without  assigning  any  reason.  In  practice,  a  man  can 
only  divorce  his  wife  if  she  is  agreeable  to  it,  or  has 


8o  TUNISIA 

been  intolerably  disagreeable  to  him.  Sometimes 
they  are  divorced  once  or  twice  and  then  come 
together  again.  There  exists  a  peculiarly  solemn 
form  of  divorce,  by  which  a  man  is  debarred  from 
marrying  his  wife  again  unless  she  first  marries  some 
one  else  and  is  divorced  by  him.  In  cases  of  necessity 
this  second  divorce  is  sometimes  arranged,  as  a  pure 
formality,  by  the  intervention  of  a  common  friend.  It 
might  not  be  thought  that  this  contingency  would  often 
arise,  but  the  Arabs  have  a  special  word,  mustahal,  to 
describe  the  man  who  performs  this  strange  service. 

One  of  the  strangest  and  most  affecting 
"  sights  in  an  Arab  town  is  that  of  the  funerals, 
which  may  be  met  at  any  street  corner.  The  corpse 
is  merely  wrapped  in  a  mat  of  esparto  grass,  and 
carried  either  on  a  bier  or  on  men's  shoulders.  The 
mourners  lounge  along,  some  in  front  and  some 
behind,  crooning  verses  of  the  Koran  in  melancholy 
tones,  which  haunt  you  for  days  afterwards.  This 
wailing  is,  however,  nothing  to  that  which  goes  on  in 
the  house  of  the  deceased.  When  I  was  staying  in 
the  country  near  Tunis,  I  heard  it  kept  up  during  a 
whole  night  in  a  neighbouring  village,  and  I  can  conceive 
nothing  more  desperately  depressing  than  these  strains 
of  lamentation,  wafted  through  the  darkness  by  the 
breeze.  My  host's  dog  stood  it  less  well  even  than  I 
did,  and  felt  constrained  to  join  in  the  mournful  chorus, 
until  we  were  half  tempted  to  put  a  bullet  through  its 
head. 

Perhaps  the    strangest   of  all    the    funerals   I   saw 
was  at  Bizcrta.      It  was  that  of  a  baby,   which  was 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING 


81 


being  carried  to  its  grave  in  an  esparto  basket.  In 
Mrs.  Vivian's  photograph  on  page  233  the  funeral 
procession  is  being  conveyed  across  the  harbour  by 
the  steam  ferry.  The  basket  containing  the  corpse  is 
on  the  extreme  right.  The  mourners  were  few,  but 
they  made  up  for  their  lack  of  number  by  the  vehem- 
ence of  their  wails. 


AN    ARAli    I-T'NKKAL. 


Food. 


The  Beduins  are  content  to  subsist  largely 
upon  whatever  nature  may  offer  them. 
Roast  locusts,  acacia  gums,  and  the  coarse  fruit  of 
the  jujube  tree  are  among  their  favourite  delicacies. 
Kus-kus  is  their  staple  food,  consisting  of  fine  meal 
boiled  with  mutton  and  strongly  spiced.  On  grand 

G 


82  TUNISIA 

occasions  they  spit  a  sheep  or  a  lamb  with  a  piece  of 
wood  and  roast  it  slowly  by  turning  it  over  the  embers 
of  a  wood  fire.  It  is  then  excellent  eating,  and 
travellers  who  receive  it  as  tribute  on  their  passage 
may  consider  themselves  lucky.  Like  the  Turks,  the 
Beduins  also  indulge  in  little  squares  of  boiled  meat, 
to  which  they  are  in  the  habit  of  adding  a  sauce  of 
rancid  oil,  without  which  they  consider  all  meat  to  be 
tasteless.  If  you  give  any  one  of  them  the  remains  of 
a  chicken,  or  any  other  food  which  has  been  cooked 
after  the  European  fashion,  they  will  consider  it  un- 
eatable until  it  shall  have  received  the  addition  of 
their  own  particular  flavouring.  One  of  their  most 
characteristic  dishes  is  the  sJiekshuka,  a  mixture  of 
every  sort  of  vegetable — beans,  potatoes,  onions,  wild 
thistles — and  whatever  spices  they  can  afford.  Oranges 
and  dates  are  often  added  also  to  the  mixture.  Their 
pastry  and  sweetmeats  are  creations  of  considerable 
skill,  but  do  not  appeal  to  the  European  by  reason  of 
the  rancid  oil  which  can  never  be  excluded  altogether. 
As  a  great  treat,  camel's  hump  or  fore-quarter  of 
gazelle  are  sometimes  provided.  Mention  must  also 
be  made  of  meltsus,  pounded  barley  cooked  with  spices 
or  honey  or  milk  ;  messelli,  salt  meat  dried  in  the  sun  ; 
kaadid,  meat  preserved  in  oil  ;  and  tebikha,  a  mixture 
of  green  vegetables  also  saturated  in  oil.  What  most 
strikes  an  European  about  Arab  cookery  is  the  sur- 
prising mixture  of  sweets  and  savouries,  or  perhaps  I 
should  rather  say  unsavouries.  The  bread  is  generally 
made  of  semolina,  and  is  very  heavy,  hardly  anything 
in  the  nature  of  yeast  being  used.  The  beverages  are 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING     83 

restricted  to  water,  milk,  coffee,  syrups,  and  a  sweet 
decoction  of  flour,  beside  the  palm  wine,  which  is  not 
drunk  in  its  fermented  condition  by  any  but  very  lax 
Moslems.  Tea  is  practically  unknown.  In  the 
towns,  a  favourite  dainty  is  a  sweet  fritter  cooked  in 
oil,  very  appetising  to  look  upon  but  disgusting  to  the 
taste.  In  almost  any  street  you  may  encounter  boys 
hawking  about  platterfuls  of  this  dainty,  which  is 
bought  up  with  the  utmost  eagerness.  All  day  and 
all  night  in  Tunis  you  may  hear  the  musical  cry  of 
"  Kakawia,  Kakawia  !  "  (roast  monkey-nuts),  which 
the  Arabs  nibble  at  every  spare  moment. 

water-  ^°  one  can  travc'l  among  the  Arabs  with- 
Drinking.  out  bejng  struck  by  the  importance  attached 
to  the  water  supply.  Where  a  rich  Englishman  would 
bequeath  money  to  founding  a  hospital  or  decorating  a 
church,  an  Arab  can  think  of  no  other  channel  for  his 
charity  than  the  construction  of  a  fountain,  which  will 
assure  him  the  blessings  of  all  future  generations. 
This  is  his  one  idea  of  good  works,  and  it  is  worth 
noting  that  every  mosque  01  shrine  has  generous 
supplies  of  water  attached  to  it.  The  Arabs  have  a 
curious  characteristic  in  common  with  horses  and  many 
other  animals.  They  prefer  stagnant  water,  however 
disgusting  in  smell  and  appearance,  to  the  most  limpid 
running  water,  which  they  assert  generally  contains 
disagreeable  medicinal  properties.  Whenever  they  are 
reduced  to  drinking  running  water  in  remote  places,  it 
always  disagrees  with  them,  and  often  makes  them  sick  ; 
but  this  may  be  in  a  great  measure  due  to  habit  and 
prejudice  transmitted  through  many  generations. 


84  TUNISIA 

A  strict  Muhammadan  refrains  not  only  from  wine 
but  from  tobacco.  In  the  towns,  the  Moors  nearly  all 
smoke,  but  in  the  country  districts  the  Arabs  generally 
content  themselves  with  taking  snuff,  to  the  manufac- 
ture of  which  the  greater  part  of  the  tobacco  grown  in 
Tunisia  is  devoted. 

Moslems  are  forbidden  to  drink  wines  or 

Drugs.  ...  ^       .         . 

spirits,  but  in  1  unis  they  contrive  to  reach 
the  same  ends  by  smoking  preparations  of  hemp. 
The  milder  kind  is  called  kif>  which  is  prepared  from 
the  flowers,  and  if  used  in  moderation  has  no  more 
effect  than  wine ;  but  the  concentrated  essence,  known 
as  skira,  or  hashish,  produces  intoxication  as  quickly 
as  raw  spirits,  and  leads  to  delirium  tremens.  The 
dangerous  part  of  this  habit  is  that,  once  acquired, 
it  is  very  difficult  to  throw  off.  Its  devotees  are 
amongst  the  greatest  sufferers  from  the  enforced  absti- 
nence of  Ramadan. 

Bang  is  a  ruder  preparation  of  hemp,  generally 
taken  in  the  form  of  pills  mixed  with  opium,  but 
the  use  of  this  is  commoner  further  East.  A  friend 
of  mine,  travelling  in  India,  had  an  admirable  ser- 
vant who,  after  some  days'  journey  in  a  remote  part 
of  the  interior,  suddenly  collapsed,  and  could  neither 
work  nor  walk.  Various  remedies  were  tried,  but 
in  vain,  and  at  last  he  was  induced  to  confess  that 
his  provision  of  bang  had  come  to  an  end,  and  that 
he  could  not  possibly  recover  until  he  obtained  a 
fresh  supply,  which  had  to  be  sent  for  from  a  distance 
of  many  days'  journey.  The  consumption  of  hashish 
is  nominally  forbidden  in  Tunisia,  but  goes  on  every- 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING     85 

where.  If  you  enter  almost  any  coffee-house  in  Tunis, 
and  offer  to  pay  a  few  pence  for  a  pipeful,  the  host 
will  at  once  produce  a  kind  of  gourd-shaped  bulb 
with  a  long  stem,  fill  it  with  hashish,  light  it  with  a  few 
strong  puffs,  and  hand  it  round  to  the  company.  If 
they  are  unaccustomed  to  it,  the  only  result  will 
be  to  make  them  cough  until  they  nearly  choke. 
If  taken  seriously,  however,  it  often  has  the 
strangest  effects,  giving  all  kinds  of  wild  ideas  and 
exaggerating  the  simplest  sensations.  Two  English- 
men, who  visited  a  hashish  den  in  Tunis,  told  me  that 
they  found  long  rows  of  men  squatting  round  the  walls 
buried  in  thought  and  silence.  Their  <niide  told  them 

o  O 

that  it  might  be  dangerous  to  disturb  the  smokers,  and 
led  them  off  to  a  far  corner,  where  they  were  provided 
with  pipes.  One  of  them  was  seized  with  the  idea 
that  he  was  kept  down  by  a  great  weight,  and  it 'took 
several  hours  before  he  could  be  persuaded  to  get 
up  and  go  home.  The  other  did  nothing  but  laugh 
stupidly,  and  developed  a  mania  for  roaming.  He  had 
to  be  chased  half  round  the  Arab  quarter  before  he 
could  be  taken  back  to  his  hotel,  and  on, arriving  there, 
he  developed  a  tendency  to  roam  into  other  people's 
rooms.  Hashish  induces  a  kind  of  temporary  lunacy, 
with  sensations  which  arc  sometimes  highly  agreeable, 
and  sometimes  very  much  the  reverse. 

The  Arabs  of  Tunis  give  their  children  a  great 
deal  of  opium,  to  prevent  their  crying.  It  has  been 
calculated  that  each  child  consumes  on  an  average  an 
infusion  of  one  poppy-head  every  evening  ol  his  lite  up 
to  the  age  of  two  years.  Yet  he  seems  to  thrive  on  it. 


86 


TUNISIA 


or  Learning      Beginners  are  often  alarmed  by  the  strange- 
Arabic-     ness  of  the  Arab  as  of  the  Russian  character. 


AFTER    BLOOn-LETTI  NO. 


But  the  Russian  may  be  learned  in  a  few  hours,  and 
the  Arab  character  by  a  few  days'  application.  Some 
sounds  are  hard  to  pronounce,  particularly  by  French 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING     87 

throats,  but  Germans  soon  master  them,  and  the  British 
have  no  cause  for  despair.  My  teacher  told  me  with 
pride  how  he  enabled  a  French  officer  to  circumvent 
the  guttural  k  by  inducing  him  to  practise  it  with  a 
paper-knife  laid  across  his  tongue.  Still  more  per- 
plexing is  the  gasping  letter  'am,  and  my  teacher  often 
exclaimed  impatiently  :  "  Try  to  fancy  that  you  are 
being  sea-sick — thus  shall  you  accomplish  it  easily." 
For  all  difficulties  there  is,  however,  full  compensa- 
tion in  the  charming  turns  of  phrase  which  a  study 
of  Arabic  reveals  to  the  astonished  student.  He  may 
express  as  much  as  Lord  Burleigh  with  almost  equal 
brevity.  Is  a  beggar  importunate,  the  sole  word 
"  If  tali  "  is  understood  to  mean,  "  May  Allah  open  to 
thee  the  gates  of  good,  for  I  have  nothing  to  give 
thee."  Does  an  unwelcome  stranger  enter,  it  is  enough 
to  look  up  and  sourly  exclaim,  "  Bismillah  /"  —the  ex- 
pression used  at  every  hour  of  the  day  as  an  incanta- 
tion against  evil  spirits — and  your  intruder  \vill  under- 
stand you  to  mean,  "  \Vho  is  this  ugly  Jinn  come  hither 
to  torment  us  ?  "  Does  a  merchant  in  the  bazaars  lix 
a  monstrous  price,  the  correct  course  is  to  raise  the* 
hands  towards  heaven  and  ejaculate  :  "  There  is 
neither  strength  nor  power  save  in  Allah,  the  high, 
the  great,  the  Master  of  Worlds."  The  merchant  will 
not  fail  to  understand  that  his  price  has  seemed  to 
surpass  all  human  possibilities.  Other  pious  phrases 
have  sometimes  a  humorous  turn.  Thus  you  may  tell 
a  merchant  :  "  Inshalliih  (it  it  please  Allah),  I  will 
return  and  buy  another  da)',"  but  you  and  he  know  full 
well  that  the  pleasure  of  Allah  will  not  bring  this  about. 


88  TUNISIA 

Arabic  scholars,  who  come  from  Syria,  or  even 
Egypt,  have  considerable  difficulty  in  making  them- 
selves understood,  and  are  often  tempted  to  vow  im- 
patiently that  the  Tunisians  cannot  be  real  Arabs  at 
all,  but  must  be  some  mongrel  Berber  race.  There 
is  also  a  marked  difference  between  the  accent  of 
Tunisia  and  that  of  Algeria,  still  more  of  Morocco, 
but  it  is  a  difference  not  in  the  construction  of  the 
language  so  much  as  in  the  use  of  distinct  words 
which  are  understood  all  over  Tunisia  but  nowhere 
else.  Classical  Arabic  is  of  course  intelligible  only 
to  the  learned,  and  would  be  of  very  little  assistance 
to  a  traveller  in  asking  his  way. 

As  a  general  rule,  particularly  in  the  town 

Greetings. 

of  Tunis,  where  few  people  are  fanatical, 
it  is  safe  to  use  the  ordinary  salutation,  "  Sclani  dalek, 
the  peace  (of  Allah  and  his  Prophet)  be  with  thee  "  ; 
but  a  very  strict  Moslem  may  resent  it  and  think 
to  himself,  "  Who  is  this  infidel  dog,  who  ventures 
to  offer  me  blessings  from  Allah  and  the  Prophet, 
in  whom  he  does  not  believe  ?  "  Nor  will  he  him- 
self waste  such  blessings  upon  an  infidel.  But  the 
Arabic  language  is  so  very  rich  in  salutations  and 
compliments  that  he  need  be  at  no  loss  to  find 
plenty  which  will  not  hurt  his  conscience  to  use  or 
to  accept.  Beside  the  usual  compliments  of  the 
time  of  day,  every  sort  of  inquiry  about  your  health 
and  the  health  of  all  your  family  is  customary  on 
the  part  of  an  Arab.  When  two  Arabs  meet  in 
the  street  or  elsewhere  after  a  long  separation,  there 
seems  no  end  to  the  string  of  inquiries  which  they 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  MORNING     89 

exchange.  Even  half  an  hour  of  this  occupation  is 
thought  nothing  of.  "How  are  you?"  "How  is 
your  health?"  "  How  is  your  father  ?  "  "  How  are 
your  other  relations  ? "  -  each  being  enumerated 
separately,  even  the  most  distant  ones. — "  How  is 
your  household?"  "How  are  your  men?"  "  Are 
you  well?"  "Is  nothing  wrong  with  you?"  "Do 
you  lack  nothing?"  And  so  on.  It  is  considered 
bad  form  to  inquire  after  female  relations  directly, 
but  they  are  generally  included  in  such  terms  as 
"household,"  or  "family."  When  a  man's  ingenuity 
is  at  last  exhausted,  and  the  various  questions  have 
all  been  answered  satisfactorily,  it  is  considered 
a  great  compliment  to  make  sure  of  the  reality  ot 
your  good  health  by  asking  all  the  same  questions 
over  again  and  awaiting  the  answers  with  equal 
anxiety.  This  process  may  be  repeated  an  in- 
definite number  of  times  according  to  the  effusiveness 
of  the  speaker.  When  at  last  one  man  has  completed 
his  inquiries,  it  is  the  turn  of  the  other,  who  will  be- 
thought exceedingly  ungracious  if  he  be  behindhand 
in  the  number  of  his  questions.  The  answers  are 
generally  prefaced  by  the  words  clhawdoit  lillah 
(thanks  be  to  Him,  that  is,  Allah),  and  the)-  often 
contain  elaborate  compliments,  such  as  "  I  have 
lacked  nothing  save,  to  behold  the  li'-ht  ot  thy 

O  i"»  y 

countenance  and   the   length   of  thy   days." 

The    vocabulary   of  abuse    is    no   less  rich, 

Curses. 

and  very  little  is  thought  of  such  amenities 
as  "May  Allah  curse  thy  parents";  "Ma)1  the  sea 
pass  over  thee  "  ,  "  Allah  grant  that  thou  mayest 


90  TUNISIA 

go  to  bed  and  never  rise  again."  A  severe  insult 
is  to  call  a  man  "  boujadi"  which  means  little  more 
than  an  ignorant  or  ill-bred  person  ;  and  it  is  curious 
to  notice  that  among  the  Tuscans  there  is  nothing 
more  offensive  than  to  call  a  man  ignorante,  which 
conveys  the  same  imputation  upon  his  breeding. 
Similarly,  the  Spaniards  resent  nothing  so  much  as  to 
be  called  "  sin  vergucnza "  (without  shame).  The 
Arabs  are  also  fond  of  causing  annoyance  by 
casting  imputations  upon  the  morality  of  a  man's 
parents,  but  the  greatest  insult  of  all  is  to  call  an 
Arab  a  Jew.  It  is  not  so  very  long  ago  that  any  one 
who  did  this  was  liable  to  be  given  in  charge  of 
the  nearest  policeman  and  sentenced  straightway  to 
the  bastinado. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  in  a   short  space 

Proverbs. 

any  real  idea  of  the  wit  and  wisdom  em- 
bodied in  Tunisian  proverbs,  but  a  few  may  be 
cited,  though  I  cannot  guarantee  that  any  of  them 
belong  exclusively  to  the  Regency.  At  any  rate, 
it  has  given  me  a  certain  amount  of  pleasure  to 
make  the  collection. 

"  He  who  desires  to  attain  to  great  things  must 
pass  through  many  nights." 

"  He  who  has  gold  is  beloved,  though  he  be  a 
dog,  and  the  son  of  a  dog." 

"  Shun  him  who  can  be  of  no  use  to  thee  :  in  this 
world  he  cannot  serve  thee,  and  in  that  which  is 
to  come  he  cannot  intercede  on  thy  behalf." 

"  It  is  better  to  commit  ten  sins  in  the  sight  of  God 
than  one  in  the  siirht  of  men." 


THE   CHILDREN   OF   THE   MORNING  91 

"  Those  who  are  learning  to  shave  heads  practise 
upon  those  of  orphans." 

"  To  the  dog  who  has  money  men  say,  '  My  lord 


"  The  man  who  spends  the  night  in  a  marsh  wakes 
up  a  cousin  to  the  frogs." 

"  Good  morrow,  neighbour,  let  us  remain,  I  in  my 
house  and  thou  in  thine." 

"  The  beauty  of  a  man  lies  in  his  intelligence  :  the 
intelligence  of  a  woman  is  to  be  found  in  her 

o 

beauty." 

"  When  the  moon  is  with  thee,  of  what  account 
are  the  stars  ?  " 

"  Every  beetle  in  his  mother's  eyes  is  a  ga- 
zelle." 

11  When  thou  seest  two  people  in  constant  converse, 
thou  maycst  know  that  the  one  is  the  dupe  of  the 
other." 

"  Better  a  bad  prince  than  protracted  demo- 
cracy." 

"  Obedience  to  women    is  the   avenue  of  hell." 

"  Consult  thy  wife;,  and  do  the  reverse  of  what 
she  advises." 

"Joy  lasts  for  seven  days,  but  sadness  endures 
for  a  life-time." 


Chapter    IV 
ISLAM 

Conversion  to  Islam — Mosques — Graveyards — Ramadan—  Bairam— 
Drunken  Moslems — Photography— The  Aissawas — Shrines  and 
Seers — The  Merabut  of  Baghdad — The  Story  of  a  Jinn — 
Amulets — Fortune-tellers. 

WHEN  I  wrote  a  book  about  Servia,  I  naturally  de- 
voted some  attention  to  the  religious  ceremonies, 
which  are  always  the  most  picturesque  aspect  of  a 
people  ;  and  one  of  my  critics  reproached  me  with 
describing,  in  a  book  upon  Servia,  incidents  which 
are  common  to  all  branches  of  the  Orthodox 
Church.  Still  less  will  he  probably  acquiesce  in  my 
dealing  here  with  the  great  religion,  which  is  broadly 
the  same  throughout  the  whole  Muhammadan  world. 
But  the  duty  of  any  one  who  seeks  to  describe  a 
country  is,  methinks,  to  present  it  as  it  strikes  him,  and 
as  it  will  strike  others  who  follow  in  his  footsteps.  No 
doubt  it  would  require  many  volumes  to  do  justice  to 
Islam,  but  an  account  of  Tunis  which  ignored  Islam 
altogether  would  be  a  salad  without  the  dressinq-. 

o  o 

I  must  therefore  frankly  crave  indulgence,  and  con- 
fess that  this  chapter  seeks  only  to  pourtray  those 


ISLAM 


outlines    and    salient    points     of    the     Muhammadan 
religion  which  are  most  likely  to  arouse    the    intelli- 
gent curiosity  of  a  traveller  in  Tunisia. 
conversion  to     My    teacher    of    Arabic    told    me    that    it 


Islam.  r     ., 

was  a  matter  of  the  utmost  ease  to  em- 
brace Islam  ;  and,  though  he  was  neither  fanatical 
nor  even  religious,  he  never  tired  of  trying  to  persuade 
me  to  do  so.  "It  is  only  a  matter  of  about  half 
an  hour,"  he  would  say  to  me  ;  "  you  have  only  to 
come  with  me  and  make  a  declaration  before  the 
religious  authorities  that  there  is  but  one  God  and 
that  Muhammad  is  His  prophet.  Then  if  you  will 
give  up  wearing  a  hat,  be  circumcised,  observe 
Ramadan,  pray  and  make  ablutions  regularly,  you 
will  be  as  good  a  Muhammadan  as  any  of  us."  I 
said  I  drew  the  line  at  circumcision,  but  he  replied 
that,  if  I  would  obtain  a  medical  certificate  that  it 
would  be  dangerous  to  my  health,  the  formality 
would  probably  be  dispensed  with.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  warned  me  that  the  religious  authorities 
would  remark  to  me  that,  if  I  were  really  a  true 
believer,  I  ought  to  be  prepared  to  make  this  small 
sacrifice  for  my  creed.  There  are  really  no  dis- 
pensations in  Islam,  he  told  me.  It  is  a  democratic 
religion  wherein  all  believers  arc'  equal.  Kverv 

o  j 

Moslem  is  in  direct  relation  with  God  and  needs 
the  intervention  of  no  priest.  The  .Muhammadan 
clergy  are  merely  the  most  diligent  among  the  worship- 
pers, and  neither  undergo  consecration  nor  acquire 
any  greater  authority  than  is  conferred  upon  them 
by  their  reputation.  Not  even  the  Sultan,  whom 


94  TUNISIA 

all  true  Moslems  recognise  as  the  head  of  their  re- 
ligion, can  dispense  any  one  of  them  from  the  most 
trifling  duty. 

The  great  inducement  which  my  teacher  held 
out  was  that,  once  I  had  accepted  Islam,  I 
should  be  free  to  visit  all  the  mosques,  and  even 
undertake  the  pilgrimage  to  the  holy  cities.  A 
document  would  be  given  me,  setting  forth  that  I 
had  been  received  into  the  faith,  and,  if  I  produced 
this,  no  one,  however  fanatical,  would  be  able  to 
make  any  objection  to  me  even  at  Mecca.  Indeed, 
it  would  rarely  be  necessary  even  to  produce  this 
document,  for  every  one  would  be  satisfied  by  my 
merely  repeating  the  formula  of  Islam.  Of  course, 
if  I  went  out  of  mere  curiosity  and  came  into  col- 
lision with  any  prejudices,  by  taking  photographs  or 
by  any  other  indiscretion,  I  might  get  into  trouble ; 
but  with  a  few  elementary  precautions  I  should  be 
perfectly  safe  anywhere.  It  would  be  quite  un- 
necessary for  me  to  attempt,  as  Burton  did,  to  conceal 
the  fact  that  I  was  an  European.  Indeed,  I  am 
assured  on  many  hands  that  the  difficulties  of  a  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca  have  been  absurdly  exaggerated 
by  travellers  in  order  to  enhance  the  importance  of 
their  exploits.  Burton,  for  instance,  looked  every 
inch  an  Oriental,  and  needed  no  elaborate  disguise 
to  conceal  his  European  origin,  apart  from  the  fact 
that  in  his  day  there  was  no  distrust  of  European 
visitors.  Nowadays,  more  especially  since  a  foolish 
anti-Turkish  prejudice  has  been  propagated  in 
Europe,  a  visit  to  Mecca  might  be  attended  with 


95 

clanger  and  difficulties ;  but  these  would  not  be  in- 
superable by  any  one  who  possessed  the  most  rudi- 
mentary notions  of  how  to  behave. 

It  is  a   source  of  regret   to  the   traveller 

Mosques. 

that  he  should  be  excluded  from  the  mosques 
of  Tunis,  and,  though  he  has  access  to  those  in  the 
holy  city  of  Kairwan,  which  are  much  finer,  he  will 
always  imagine  he  has  missed  a  spectacle.  At  the 
outset  of  the  occupation,  the  French  announced  that 
they  would  respect  the  mosques  of  any  town  which 
freely  opened  its  gates  to  them.  Kairwan  kept  her 
gates  closed  for  a  brief  space,  and  as  a  kind  of  protest  ; 
so  the  French  general  seized  the  pretext  and  rode 
straight  into  the  yard  of  the  chief  mosque,  an 
event  which  produced,  as  it  was  intended  to  produce, 
a  profound  impression  throughout  the  country. 
Since  this  the  mosques  of  Kairwan  have  remained 
accessible  to  all  men.  This  was  also  the  case  at 
Sfax,  but  a  French  soldier  having  provoked  a  dis- 
turbance in  one  of  the  mosques  there  some  time 
later,  the:  old  privilege  was  restored  in  compensation. 
Man.)-  French  people  think  it  would  be  wiser  to 
insist  on  admittance  to  all  the  mosques,  but  this 
would  arouse  widespread  discontent  among  the 
natives.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  why  Moslems, 
who  proselytize  so  ardently,  should  be  so  jealous 
of  the  presence  of  strangers  at  their  devotions.  I 
can  appreciate  an  objection  to  the  treading  of  prayer 
carpets  by  dirty  boots,  or  to  the  disturbance  of  medi- 
tation by  talkers  and  walkers,  but  that  is  a  ground 
for  regulation  rather  than  for  exclusion. 


96  TUNISIA 

The  graveyards  of  Tunisia,  just  as  much 

Graveyards.  .  .  r     ,  , 

as  the  mosques  there,  are  forbidden  ground 
to  Infidels.  In  Algeria,  however,  you  may  wander 
where  you  will  ;  and  there  are  often  picturesque 
scenes  in  the  Muhammadan  cemeteries  there,  particu- 
larly at  the  tomb  of  a  merabut,  or  Moslem  saint,  where 
pilgrims  come  to  pay  their  devotions.  The  saint's  tomb 
is  draped  with  rich  prayer-carpets  and  hangings,  and 
is  flanked  by  an  array  of  flags  surmounted  by  cres- 
cents. Lanterns  are  sometimes  lit  there  during  the 
nights  of  Ramadan,  and  give  a  weird,  ghostly  effect 
to  the  cemeteries.  The  flags  and  draperies  are 
votive  offerings,  put  up  on  much  the  same  principle 
as  the  ornaments  hung  by  pious  Papists  on  the 
altars  of  their  saints.  A  man  is  in  trouble,  or  desires 
something,  and  he  makes  a  vow  that,  if  everything 
goes  right,  he  will  place  a  flag  at  the  tomb  of  a  certain 
merabut.  Then,  from  time  to  time,  he  will  come  to 
offer  prayers  or  recite  passages  of  the  Koran  at  this 
sacred  spot. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  tomb  may  be  noticed 
the  shoes  which  the  pilgrims  have  doffed  before 
venturing  on  holy  ground.  The  little  white  chapels 
are  also  receptacles  for  votive  offerings.  Some 
deposit  incense,  others  light  fairy-lamps  there,  others 
bring  candles,  oil,  and  various  negotiable  articles.  A 
certain  merabut  is  supposed  to  have  a  particular  fancy 
for  olives,  another  for  sheep-skins.  Such  is  the  extent 
of  this  practice  that  there  was  recently  a  law-suit  at 
Tunis,  between  two  branches  of  a  merabut 's  family,  as 
to  which  of  them  should  be  entitled  to  carry  off  the 


ISLAM  i>7 

offerings.  The  invocation  of  saints  is  entirely  contrary 
to  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  Islam,  but  it  has  made 
great  strides  of  late.  Madness  is  considered  a 
proof  of  saintliness  by  Muhammadans,  and  many  of 
their  most  venerated  merabuts  would  with  us  have 
been  shut  up  in  asylums.  They  have  even  borrowed 
some  of  their  merabuts  from  the  Christians.  They 
venerate  Cardinal  Lavigerie  as  "the  Scarlet  Merabut." 
and  S.  Louis  as  "  Sidi  Bu  Said."  They  have  a 
legend  that  S.  Louis  became  a  Moslem  before  he 
died. 

The  crreat  Muhammadan   fast  lasts   every 

Ramadan. 

day  from  the  boom  of  a  cannon  at  4  a.m.  to 
the  boom  of  a  cannon  at  sunset.  It  is  said  that  the 
first  ten  days  go  like  a  horse's  gallop,  the  next  ten 
like  the  trot  of  a  mule,  and  the  last  ten  days  like  the 
amble  of  an  ass.  Every  day  men's  tempers  grow 
shorter,  they  are  less  patient  when  a  carriage  jostles 
them  in  the  streets,  and  their  latent  fanaticism  finds 
easier  vent.  To  the  stranger,  Ramadan  is  the  plcasant- 
est  time  for  visiting  a  Moslem  country.  Me  is  under 
no  obligation  to  fast,  though  he  will  safeguard  sus- 
ceptibilities if  he  abstain  from  smoking  in  the  Arab 
quarter,  as  a  native  who  inhaled  a  passing  putt  from 
a  cigar  by  accident  would  be  held  to  have  broken  the 
fast,  and  this  would  entail  an  extra  day's  penance  in 
the  following  month. 

The  visitor  may  regret  the  closing  of  all  the 
coffee-houses  during  the  day,  but  ample  amends 
are  made  to  him  by  the  recurrence  of  a  nightly  car- 
nival, where  simple  Oriental  gaiety  is  allowed  full 

11 


98  TUNISIA 

swing.  Fairy  lamps  are  lit  round  every  minaret ; 
there  are  merry-go-rounds  and  marionettes  for  the 
children  ;  that  sad  dog  Karagus,  an  Arab  punchinello, 
is  exhibited  by  means  of  Chinese  shadows  for  those 
who  like  strong  meat ;  and  in  every  coffee-house, 
down  to  the  remotest  limits  of  the  Arab  quarters, 
are  deafening  musicians  with  barbaric  instruments, 
pantomime  dances,  reverend  story-tellers  devising 
supplements  to  the  Arabian  Nights,  or  droll  travesties 
of  familiar  beasts.  The  correct  thing  is  to  lounge 
from  show  to  show,  carrying  a  provision  of  strange 
sweetmeats  compounded  of  honey  and  oil,  or  filling 
the  pockets  with  roast  peas  and  pumpkin  seeds  to 
chew  as  a  pastime. 

Ramadan  lasts  only  a  lunar  month,  but  it  is 
observed  far  more  strictly  than  the  forty  clays  in 
Roman  Catholic  or  even  in  Orthodox  countries. 
Imagine  the  hardship,  particularly  in  a  hot  'country, 
of  not  being  allowed  to  eat  a  single  morsel  or  drink 
a  drop  of  any  liquid  between  the  small  hours  and 
sunset.  Moslem  fasters  have  an  advantage,  however, 
over  the  Christians,  in  that  they  are  permitted  to  eat, 
drink,  and  be  merry  during  the  night-time  to  the  full 
extent  of  their  inclination  after  a  long  day's  abstinence. 
The  amusements,  which  go  on  during  the  nights  of 
Ramadan,  are  practically  the  same  as  those  of  Bairam, 
the  three  days  of  carnival  that  follow.  They  are, 
perhaps,  more  picturesque,  owing  to  the  passion  for 
illumination  ;  and  I  confess  I  know  no  more  enchanting 
sight  than  that  of  an  Eastern  city  with  all  the  mosques 
and  minarets  and  most  of  the  principal  houses  tleco- 


ISLAM 


99 


rated  with  rows  of  fairy-lights.  But  there  is  certainly 
more  go  and  vigour  of  enjoyment  when  Ramadan  is 
over  and  there  is  no  more  fasting  to  be  done  for 

o 

another  year. 

Without  spending  Ramadan    among  the  Arabs,  it 


NKCRO    HOC.KY-MAN     DAM   INC.     IN     I'.AIKAM. 


is  impossible  to  obtain  the  faintest  insight  into  the 
character  of  a  people  whose  lightest  thoughts  and 
actions  belong  to  the  realms  of  poetry. 

The    three    days   following     Ramadan   are 

Bairam.  _  c      . 

known  as  liairam,  and  constitute  one  ol    the 
chief  festivals  of  the  Moslems,  who,   not  content  with 


100 


TUNISIA 


writing  backwards,  place  their  Lent  before  their 
carnival.  In  1898,  the  first  and  greatest  day  of 
Bairam  coincided  with  the  last  and  greatest  day  of  the 


JKWISII    DAXC'I  N(  ;-C.I  R  I.. 


Roumi  carnival,  so  the  town  was  doubly  alive.  Tawdry 
cars  were  competing  for  banners,  and  paper  confetti 
were  being  flung  about  the  French  boulevards,  while  the 
square  and  street  of  Halfawine  gave  themselves  up  to 


ISLAM  101 

the  picturesqueness  of  Oriental  gaiety.  Old-fashioned 
croakers  complained  that  the  illuminations  by  night 
and  the  fun  by  day  were  not  what  they  used  to  be, 
but  they  must  ever  remain  a  real  delight. 

The  marionettes  were  wonderfully  quaint.  I  recall 
most  particularly  '  n  exquisitely  hideous  lion,  whose  jaws 
snapped  ferociously  every  time  a  string  was  pulled. 
There  were  strange  dances,  performed  in  tents  by 
Jews,  for  a  Moslem  deems  it  beneath  his  dignity  to 
dance  or  to  sing ;  a  man  standing  in  a  doorway 
clapped  his  hands  with  vast  solemnity  as  he  invited 
all  and  sundry  to  visit  his  show  ;  strolling  minstrels 
beat  barbaric  tom-toms,  and  promenaded  their  bag- 
pipes in  fair  imitation  of  the  true  Scottish  style.  But 
perhaps  the  show  which  most  delighted  me  was  one 
exhibited  in  a  kind  of  stable.  The  audience  squatted 
round  the  walls  while  the  performers  dressed  them- 
selves up  as  various  familiar  animals,  and  pranced 
about  most  clrolly  in  the  centre.  There  was  an 
ostrich,  whose  particular  joke  it  was  to  stretch  out 
a  long  red  flannel  neck  and  nibble  at  your  face.  The 
camel  was  also  very  witty  ;  but  the  horse,  draped  in 
patch-work  chintz,  out  of  which  the  rider's  body 
emerged,  afforded  most  delight  of  all.  As  he  pranced 
more  fantastically  and  more  wildly,  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  audience  kept  on  increasing,  and  I  went  away 
marvelling  how  completely  and  how  easily  I  had 
been  amused. 

All  along  the  streets  was  a  dense  crowd  of  loungers, 
clad  in  their  newest  and  brightest  raiment.  The  Arabs 
wear  cloaks  of  many  colours  at  all  times,  but  Bairam 


102 


TUNISIA 


seems  to  be  the  occasion  for  replenishing  their  ward- 
robes, and  each  donned  new,  resplendent  vesture. 
None  so  humblexbut  he  contrived  to  afford  a  new 
cloak  or  new  shoes  for  Bairam.  Free  play  was 


BOYS    IN    BEST    CLOTHES    AT    BAIRAM. 
{Photograph  by  MRS.  VIVIAN.) 


accorded  to  fancy,  and  even  the  most  uproarious  com- 
binations of  magenta,  orange,  and  sky-blue  seemed 
always  in  exquisite  taste.  Men  wore  massive  silver 
rings  on  their  fingers,  and  even  in  their  ears,  over 
which,  like  clerk's  pencils,  they  hung  favours  ot 


ISLAM 


103 


coloured    paper    or    little    bouquets    made    to    imitate 
rosettes. 

It  was,  perhaps,  more    than    anything    a  children's 


heyday.  Here  was  a  swing  holding  a  do/en 
youngsters,  all  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  voices, 
while  the  conductor  yelled  an  antiphon  as  he  pro- 
pelled his  charge's  with  ever-increasing  vigour.  Next 


104  TUNISIA 

to  the  swings,  the  chief  delight  of  the  young  Arabs 
was  to  ride  about  the  town,  either  two  on  a  diminu- 
tive* donkey  or  a  dozen   in  an   araba,  clad   in   vivid 
vesture   and  roaring   from   sheer   lightness   of  heart. 
And  then  the  stalls !     Even   the  pop-guns  and  tin 
swords,    obviously    made    in    Germany,   acquired    an 
Oriental  interest  from   the  fantasy  of  their  arrange- 
ment ;    and    the    fruit    booths    were    works    of    art. 
Mountains  of  nuts  and  oranges  were  sold,  and  there 
were  tumblers  of  white  sherbet  for  throats  parched 
by  constant  shouting.     The  coffee-houses,  whose  her- 
metic blue  shutters  had   been   up  all   day  during   so 
many  weeks,  were  once  more   smiling  and   thronged  ; 
long  rows  of  white-robed  figures  sat  cross-legged  and 
blinked  serenely  over  their  coffee-cups  at  the  hubbub 
all  around.     They,  rather  than  the  younger  revellers, 
symbolized  the  contemplative  spirit  of  Islam.     With 
their  vast  treasures  of  imagination,  which  far  exceed 
anything    Aryan,    their     Paradise    lay    within.     The 
silence,  and  the  strength,  and  the  majesty  of  Islam,— 
how  they  were   brought    home   to   us    at  every  turn. 
What  stored  dignity  was  expressed  in  the  ceremonial 
greetings  of   Bairam.      Every  acquaintance  was   met 
with   a   patriarchal  embrace,  a  kiss  on  the  shoulder,  a 
hand  on  the  heart,  and  the  humblest  kissing  the  fingers 
with  which  they  had  touched  the  bernus  of  a  venerated 
Sheikh.     To  return  from  these  inspiring  visions  to  the 
horseplay  of  the  Frank  carnival,  the  chintz  dominoes, 
the  garish  cars,   was  like  a  rude  awakening    from   a 
beautiful  dream. 

The  consumption  of  alcohol  by  the  natives  has  been 


ISLAM  105 

largely  on  the  increase  since  the  French  occupation. 
Drunken  During  the  Bairam  festivities,  I  saw  drunken 
Moslems.  Moslems  reeling  about  the  streets  far  into 
the  night.  The  Bey's  police  were  busy  hustling 
these  offenders  off  to  the  cells,  where  in  old  days  they 
would  have  been  bastinadoed,  but  where  they  now 
merely  suffer  a  short  imprisonment.  Similar  reduction 
has  been  applied  to  the  punishment  for  breaking  the 
Fast  of  Ramadan.  The  French  wished  to  abrogate  this 
latter  penalty,  but  the  Bey  stood  firm,  declaring  that 
the  matter  concerned  his  people  and  his  religion. 

Doubtless  many  Moslems  do  break  the  Fast,  but 
they  cannot  do  so  easily,  as  public  opinion  is  strong  on 
the  matter,  especially  among  the  women,  and  the  only 
chance  of  obtaining  food  would  be  by  slinking  into  a 

£>  J  o 

French  cafe,  where  they  might  easily  be  observed. 
Perhaps  public  opinion  does  not  reprobate  strong 
drink  quite  so  sternly  as  breaking  Ramadan,  and 
absinthe  or  anisette  are  often  excused  with  the  old 
quibble  that,  as  they  were  unknown  in  the  days  of  the 
Prophet,  he  could  not  have  forbidden  them.  Despite 
the  sturdy  conservatism  of  Islam,  it  is  to  be  observed 
with  regret  that  many  venerable  uses  are  dying  out. 
Yet  a  little  while,  and  we  may  find  the  same  dull 
monotony  of  raiment,  architecture,  and  habits  in  the 
Orient  as  in  the  Occident. 

Nowadays    almost   every   traveller   carries 

Photography. 

about  with  him,  like  some  familiar  iiend,  an 
instantaneous  camera  of  sorts.  But  this  is  by  no 
means  welcome  in  Arab  lands  ;  men  scowl  and  mutter 
"  Inala  f  AllaJi  a/a  clnuisaicirin  "  (the  curse  of 


106  TUNISIA 

Allah  be  on  those  who  take  portraits)  ;  women  bid 
little  girls  cover  up  their  faces ;  small  boys  grimace, 
and  have  been  known  to  run  away  even  from  the 
temptation  of  proffered  pennies.  This  is  due  partly 
to  a  superstition,  partly  to  a  Koranic  ordinance.  The 
superstition  is  that,  if  you  take  any  one's  photograph, 
you  have  the  power  to  bring  disease  and  misfortune 
on  him  by  stabbing  his  likeness  with  pin-pricks.  The 
Koranic  ordinance  forbids  the  reproduction  of  the 
human  image  in  any  form, — some  say  also  the  image 
of  "  anything  which  casts  a  shadow," — as  this  is  to 
usurp  the  function  of  the  Creator.  Tradition  adds 
that,  in  the  next  world,  the  makers  of  images  will  be 
haunted  by  their  creations,  all  clamouring  to  receive 
souls.  "  I  had  no  desire  to  be  called  into  being," 
an  image  will  say,  "  but  as  thou  art  responsible  for 
my  existence,  complete  thy  work  and  bestow  upon 
me  a  soul."  And,  as  this  is  beyond  the  power  of  the 
image- maker,  he  will  be  haunted  everlastingly.  If, 
however,  he  be  an  infidel,  and  one,  therefore,  who 
has  no  abode  in  the  realms  of  bliss,  the  image  may 
have  recourse  to  its  living  likeness,  if  a  Moslem,  and 
his  eternity  may  be  made  miserable  as  an  accessory 
to  the  sin  of  an  infidel. 

•njg  More  than   anything   else    at    Kairwan    I 

Aissawas.   jm(j    anticipateci   with    interest  the  sight  of 

an  orgy  of  the  Aissawas.  I  had  heard  much  of  the 
hideous  tortures  they  endure  unflinchingly,  and  of  the 
impressiveness  of  their  barbaric  ritual,  but  I  came 
away  with  grave  doubts  as  to  the  genuineness  of  their 
performance.  They  lay  themselves  out  too  much 


ISLAM  107 

for  the  gratification  of  tourist  curiosity  to  pass  muster 
as  a  serious  religious  body.  Instead  of  scowling  on 
the  Rumi  intruder,  as  ^ood  Moslems  should  in  a 

o 

mosque,  they  hasten  to  provide  him  with  a  front  seat, 
they  exhibit  all  their  apparatus  for  his  inspection  with 
the  zeal  of  professional  conjurers,  and,  if  he  pay  well, 
they  will  even  give  extra  performances  for  his  sole 
benefit. 

I  found  a  dark  pillared  room  adorned  with 
coloured  glass  balls,  ostrich  eggs,  and  pictures  of 
Jinns.  In  the  centre  a  number  of  young  men  were 
beating  tom-toms  furiously  and  shouting  something 
unintelligible,  while  every  one  present  kept  time  with 
hands  and  heads  in  order  to  induce  the  hypnotic  state. 
When  the  hubbub  had  lasted  lon^  enough  for  this 

t_>  O 

purpose,  a  number  of  volunteers  stood  up  in  line  and 
swayed  to  and  fro,  as  the  howling  Dervishes  do  in 
Turkey,  keeping  time  with  the  drum-beats.  Then, 
one  after  the  other,  at  intervals,  they  rushed  forward 
yelling,  whirled  their  heads  about,  and  tore  off  all 
their  upper  garments.  Long  dull  knives  were  handed 
to  them,  and  they  made  a  great  show  of  running  the 
blades  and  points  into  their  flesh.  They  even  em- 
ployed attendants  to  hammer  the  hilts  with  much 
noise  and  apparent  vigour.  But  though  the  per- 
formers had  all  the  appearance  of  being  under  the 
influence  of  hypnotism,  they  certainly  took  good  care 
to  do  themselves  no  hurt. 

The  stabbing  was  clone,  much  as  I  have  seen  it 
on  the  stage,  with  a  slight,  scarcely  perceptible  pause 
just  before  the  incidence  of  the  blow.  Moreover, 


io8  TUNISIA 

not  only  was  there  no  blood  shed,  but  never  even 
an  indentation  of  the  flesh,  as  would  have  been 
the  case  with  a  real  blow  inflicted  in  the  hypnotic 
condition.  One  Aissawa  careered  proudly  with  a 
thin  blade  struck  through  the  upper  skin  of  his 
shoulder ;  but  any  one  can  do  this  with  impunity 
if  he  take  the  precaution  of  first  separating  the 
outer  skin.  Scorpions  were  duly  swallowed,  and  it 
was  an  horrible  sight  to  see  the  expression  of  the 
hypnotized  boys  crawling  on  all  fours  and  staring 
wistfully  at  the  dispenser  of  these  creatures.  But  I 
imagine  it  would  have  been  easy  to  remove  the  stings 
in  advance. 

As  to  the  doses  of  glass,  I  am  less  clear.  It  cer- 
tainly seemed  to  me  that  round  pieces  were  placed 
in  the  men's  mouths  ;  but  there  may  have  been 
sleight  of  hand,  and  the  glass  may  have  been  removed 
afterwards.  The  noise  was  too  incessant  for  me  to 
hear  whether  the  glass  was  crunched  by  the  teeth. 

The  whole  scene  was  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  wild 
agitation — I  cannot  call  it  fervour— of  the  performers. 
In  a  state  of  semi-nudity,  with  staring  eyes  and 
streaming  cheeks,  they  rushed  round  the  mosque, 
they  leaped,  they  crawled,  they  shouted  in  mad 
rivalry  of  the  deafening  drums.  It  was  an  hideous 
pandemonium  ;  yet  all  seemed  entirely  under  the 
control  of  their  chief,  a  grave  and  reverend  Sheikh, 
who  never  relapsed  for  an  instant  from  his  imperturb- 
able coolness,  and  was  able  at  any  moment  to  repress 
any  excess  with  a  look  or  a  touch.  I  am  told  that 
in  private  life  the  Aissawas  are,  oddly  enough,  the 


ISLAM  109 

mildest  mannered  of  men  and  entirely  averse  from 
all  thoughts  of  fanaticism. 

shrines  and  ^ne  °^  ^ie  most  conspicuous  landmarks 
seers.  Qf  Tunis  is  a  hill  surmounted  by  a  dazzling 
white  dome,  whither  pious  Moslem  women  are  wont 
to  flock  in  pilgrimage  to  venerate  the  sepulchre  of  an 
holy  lady.  Not  long  ago  a  uierabiit  announced  that  it 
had  been  revealed  to  him  in  a  vision  that  the  holy 
lady's  sepulchre  was  in  another  place.  Search  was 
made  and  as,  sure  enough,  bones  were  found  where  the 
vision  had  indicated,  there  seemed  no  further  room  for 
doubt.  The  pilgrimage  was  accordingly  diverted  ;  the 
merabut  built  a  shrine  and  began  to  grow  fat  upon  the 
offerings  of  the  faithful.  But  the  reward  of  the  seer's 

o 

inspiration  was  naturally  distasteful  to  the  guardians 
of  the  original  shrine,  who  found  themselves  as  wofully 
neglected  as  the  priests  of  Diana  at  Ephesus.  Saving 
the  French  occupation,  they  had  doubtless  set  all 
Tunis  in  an  uproar.  As  it  was,  they  resorted  to  more 
modern  methods,  an  appeal  to  the  Courts  resulting  in 
an  injunction  and  damages  against  their  rival,  whose 
vision  was  not  held  to  be  sufficient  proof  in  law. 
It  was,  perhaps,  the  strangest  part  of  the  affair  that 
the  pilgrims,  who  had  believed  in  the  vision,  readily 
accepted  the  decision,  and  returned  with  devotion 
unimpaired  to  their  former  haunt,  which  now  flourishes 
more  securely  than  ever. 

me  Merabut      From   a   window   in    Tunis   I    couldsec  a 
of  Baghdad.  sma]i    mOsque   dedicated   to   the   memory   of 
a   Saint  or   Mirabnt   at   Baghdad,  and   it  was  a   con- 
stant delight  to  observe   the  passage    of  his    devotees. 


no  TUNISIA 

There  was  one  old  woman  in  particular  who  was  a 
regular  attendant.  She  would  station  herself  in 
front  of  the  great  door,  which  was  thickly  studded 
with  nails,  some  of  them  in  the  form  of  lyres  and 
other  charms  against  the  evil  eye.  She  would  raise 
her  hands  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  pass  them  reve- 
rently over  her  face,  clutch  the  heavy  iron  knocker, 
and  beat  a  loud  tattoo.  Then  there  was  a  long  pause, 
as  if  she  expected  some  one  to  open  for  her.  But 
no  one  ever  came ;  for  it  is  understood  that  the 
knocker's  only  use  is  to  engage  the  attention  of  the 
Baghdad  Saint.  The  operation  of  praying,  stroking 
the  face,  and  knocking  was  repeated  several  times, 
more  or  less  according  to  the  urgency  of  the  case. 
I  have  seen  her  spend  half  an  hour  and  nearly  batter 
down  the  door  ;  I  have  seen  her  spend  five  minutes 
and  content  herself  with  the  most  perfunctory  rat- 
tats.  But  she  has  never  omitted  to  conclude  the 
ceremony  by  solemnly  turning  over  a  stone  near  the 
door  with  her  stick.  On  emergencies  she  has  also 
torn  off  a  shred  from  her  clothing  and  tied  it  to  the 
bar  of  the  window.  Each  procedure  was  designed 
to  remind  the  merabut  of  her  visit,  lest  he  should  be 
disposed  to  forget.  Some  of  us  tie  knots  in  our 
handkerchiefs.  She  preferred  to  tie  a  portion  of  her 
dress  to  a  window.  The  principle  is  the  same, 
•me  story  of  ^s  an  instance  of  the  old-world  atmo- 
sphere at  Tunis  and  the  survival  of  ideas 
which  were  in  vogue  when  the  Arabian  Nights  first 
took  literary  shape,  I  may  relate  a  story  which  was 
gravely  told  me  by  an  Arab  friend  the  other  day.  He 


ISLAM  in 

was  driving  into  Tunis  not  very  long  ago,  and  had  just 
reached  the  city  gate  when  his  carriage  stopped  and  he 
found  a  negro,  sixteen  feet  high,  barring  the  way  with 
a  drawn  sword.  Alighting  from  his  carriage,  he  asked 
the  negro's  will.  "  You  have,"  was  the  reply,  "  an 
old  chest  containing  papers  in  your  house.  I  wish 
you  no  evil ;  but  if  you  refuse  me  that  chest,  I 
must  kill  you  and  take  it."  "  I  will  give  you  the 
chest,"  my  friend  replied  ;  "  but  if  you  come  to  fetch 
it,  you  will  frighten  all  my  children  into  fits."  "  Let 
not  that  trouble  you,"  returned  the  Jinn — for  a  Jinn 
it  was — "  place  it  on  your  roof  to-night.  I  will  fly 
down  and  fetch  it."  My  friend  did  as  he  was  bid,  and 
lo  !  in  the  morning  the  box  had  disappeared.  He 
is  sure  that  he  was  in  full  possession  of  his  senses 
throughout  the  interview,  and  his  coachman  is  equally 
convinced  that  he  beheld  the  Jinn. 

There  are  very  few  Arabs  who  disbelieve  altogether 
in  Jinns.  Those  who  may  not  believe  in  good  Jinns 
generally  believe  in  bad  ones,  and  you  may  hear 
plenty  of  stories  of  people  being  possessed  by  them. 
In  that  case  there  is  a  great  ceremony  to  exorcise  the 
Jinns,  incense  being  burnt,  and  all  the  neighbours 
dancing  round  the  possessed  person  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  loud  drums  and  every  sort  of  incantation. 
Nearly  all  the  old  mosaics  and  decorations  of  door- 
ways in  Tunis  contain  representations  of  the  heads  of 
Jinns  or  Afreets.  An  Afreet  differs  from  a  Jinn  in  that 
he  is  always  evil,  and  has  a  horrid  contorted  counte- 
nance. 

The   great   preoccupation,   not    merely  among    Mu- 


ii2  TUNISIA 

hammadans  but  among  Jews  and  all  other  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  Tunisia,  is  to  ward  off  the 
evil  eye.  The  chief  safeguard  against  this 
is  an  outstretched  hand,  either  the  so-called  hand  of 
Fatima,  which  is  worn  in  gold  and  silver  and  com- 
mon metals,  and  painted  up  over  walls  and  doorways, 
or  as  horns  and  upturned  horseshoes,  roughly  repre- 
senting the  thumb  and  little  finger  with  the  rest  of 
the  hand  clenched.  Oddly  enough,  while  the  five 
fingers  are  considered  a  safeguard  in  this  way,  the 
figure  five  possesses  the  worst  possible  reputation. 
It  is  the  unluckiest  of  numbers,  and  any  one  requiring 
to  use  it  in  bargaining  or  conversation  is  expected  to 
use  the  words  "  the  total  of  your  hand "  instead. 
Otherwise  he  provokes  the  retort  "  Fi  ainek—  Have  it 
in  your  eye ! "  —  in  other  words,  may  the  unlucky 
number  retort  upon  yourself  and  blast  your  eye  as  a 
penalty  for  having  ventured  to  mention  it.  Other 
favourite  amulets  are  an  axe,  a  bean  set  in  gold,  a 
coral  phallus,  and  various  jingling  whirligigs,  used  more 
particularly  for  warding  off  the  evil  eye  from  horses. 
A  snake-charmer  generally  wears  at  his  waist  a  brass 
embossed  tablet  and  a  leather  pouch  with  the  hand  of 
Fatima  upon  it.  Inside  this  pouch  he  often  carries  a 
piece  of  black  stone,  probably  of  meteorite  origin, 
picked  up  at  the  amphitheatre  of  El  Jem,  and  sup- 
posed to  bz  very  potent  against  the  bites  of  serpents. 
Other  people  wear  little  round  leather  discs  with 
magical  herbs  sewn  up  inside  them,  or  else  pouches 
containing  holy  names  or  extracts  from  the  Koran  in- 
scribed by  magicians  upon  pieces  of  parchment.  My 


ISLAM  113 

teacher  of  Arabic  told  me  that  he  was  somewhat  of  a 
sceptic  in  matters  of  religion,  but  that  it  was  impos- 
sible for  him  to  disbelieve  altogether  in  amulets. 
Some  years  ago  he  had  been  entrusted  with  one  for  a 
short  time,  and  he  found,  as  he  had  been  promised, 
that  while  it  was  in  his  possession  no  one  could  re- 
fuse him  anything.  He  had  only  to  wear  it  in  his 
turban  or  hold  it  in  his  hand,  and  everything  went 
well ;  but  if  he  left  it  at  home,  or  lent  it  to  any  one 
else,  nothing  succeeded  with  him. 

The  hand  of  Fatima  is  sometimes  called  the  hand 
of  Ali.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Prophet,  pro- 
nounced by  him  to  be  one  of  the  three  perfect  women 
in  the  world's  history,  the  other  two  being  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  the  wife  of  Muhammad,  who 
proved  her  faith  in  him  by  marrying  him  when  he 
was  only  a  poor  servant.  The  story  goes  that  another 
of  the  Prophet's  wives  asked  him  why  she  had  not 
been  included  among  the  perfect  women,  whereupon 
he  replied  that  it  was  for  the  very  good  reason  that 
she  was  by  no  means  perfect.  She  had  married  him 
in  the  days  of  his  success,  whereas  the  other  wife 
had  proved  herself  the  first  believer,  marrying  him 
and  acknowledging  him  as  Prophet  when  he  was 
poor  and  of  no  account. 

In  the  interior  of  Tunisia  there  is  a  greater  variety 
of  amulets,  many  of  them  derived  from  the  negroes. 
When  I  was  there,  I  came  across  an  American  travel- 
ler, whose  hobby  it  was  to  collect  amulets  all  over  the 
world  for  presentation  to  a  New  England  museum. 
He  was  very  unpopular  among  the  natives,  for  the 

i 


ii4  TUNISIA 

French  authorized  him  to  seize  any  amulets  he  might 
take  a  fancy  to  on  the  doors  of  the  native  dwellings  ; 
and  it  was  poor  compensation  for  people,  who  believed 
that  he  was  taking  away  with  him  their  only  safe- 
guard against  misfortune  and  their  best  promise  of 
prosperity,  to  receive  a  few  francs  in  exchange  for 
these  priceless  possessions,  which  had  been  handed 
down  through  countless  generations. 
Fortune-  ^  *s  natura^  among  a  superstitious  people 
tellers,  ^at  recourse  should  be  had  to  all  manner 
of  fortune-tellers  ;  but  they  surround  themselves  with 
almost  as  much  mystery  as  the  more  orthodox  profes- 
sors of  religion.  Accordingly,  it  is  by  no  means  easy 
to  approach  them,  particularly  the  more  serious  and 
reputable  ones.  I  made  many  inquiries,  however,  and 
pressed  my  guide  to  do  the  like.  One  day  he  in- 
formed me  that  he  could  take  me  to  an  old  negress, 
who  had  a  great  reputation,  and  when  I  told  him  to 
insist  that  the  witch  should  keep  any  evil  prophecies 
to  herself,  he  replied  that  there  was  no  need  for  alarm, 
as  her  kind  always  did  so.  When  I  inquired  as  to  her 
methods,  he  told  me  that  she  would  either  drop  melted 
lead  into  water,  and  prophesy  according  to  the  shape 
which  it  took ;  or  she  would  divine  with  sand  or  coffee 
grounds ;  or  she  would  produce  an  arrangement  of 
wood,  string  and  charcoal,  which,  when  held  by  an  in- 
quirer answered  questions  in  some  way,  evidently  after 
the  manner  of  planchette. 

We  reached  the  house,  which  was  in  a  remote 
and  disreputable-looking  part  of  the  Arab  quarter, 
and  were  led  up  a  narrow  winding  stair  by  an 


ISLAM  115 

evil-looking  negro,  who  had  acquired  a  wild  animal's 
skill  in  going  about  everywhere  with  bare  feet. 
When  we  emerged  upon  a  verandah,  overlooking 


the    patio    of   the    house,    we  found   a    great   number 
of  Arab  women  lounging  about    without    their   veils, 

O  O 

and   they   set  up   a  loud  protest   at  the    intrusion    of 
men.      The  negro  explained  that  \ve  were  on  our  way 


ii6  TUNISIA 

to  see  the  fortune-teller ;  but  this  did  not  pacify  them, 
and  there  was  soon  such  a  hullabaloo  in  progress  that 
I  thought  we  had  better  retreat. 

Now,  however,  the  witch  herself  appeared  on  the 
scene,  quite  the  most  villainous  old  hag  I  have  ever  set 
eyes  on,  as  black  as  pitch,  as  bald  as  a  coot,  marked 
with  small  pox  until  you  almost  doubted  whether  she 
could  really  be  a  human  being,  and  possessed  of  wolfish 
eyes,  which  pierced  you  through  and  through.  She  rated 
the  guide  furiously  for  having  ventured  to  come  up. 
There  was  no  objection  to  Rumis  (Christians)  coming, 
but  that  an  Arab  should  intrude  where  Arab  women 
were  sure  to  be  about  was  intolerable.  It  would  in- 
jure her  reputation.  What  kind  of  an  Arab  could  he 
be  who  did  not  know  better  than  that  ?  I  thought 
she  was  going  to  scratch  out  his  eyes  ;  and  she  was  no 
whit  appeased  when  he  faltered  meekly  that  he  was 
a  stranger  in  Tunis,  and  knew  no  better.  The  woman 
proposed  that  we  should  stay  and  have  our  fortunes 
told  without  him  ;  but  our  stock  of  Arabic  was  so 
slender  that  we  could  have  understood  very  little,  so 
it  was  arranged  that  we  should  come  another  day, 
with  a  Frenchwoman  who  spoke  Arabic,  but  this, 
somehow  or  other,  never  came  off. 

Having  failed  here,  the  guide  sought  to  redeem  his 
reputation  by  taking  us  to  a  male  fortune-teller,  a  few 
steps  away  from  the  tram-line  and  the  square  where 
the  snake-charmers  usually  perform.  Entering  a  little 
room  on  the  ground  floor,  we  found  a  distinguished- 
looking  man  seated  at  a  wooden  table.  He  wore  a 
handsome  gold  turban  round  his  skeshia,  a  gold-embroi- 


ISLAM  117 

dered  jebba,  and  gold-rimmed  spectacles ;  he    had    a 
cast  in  his  eyes,  and  very  ivory  teeth. 

After  the  usual  elaborate  compliments,  he  made 
me  hold  an  Arab  bamboo  pen  in  my  hand,  and 
bade  me  either  wish  for  something  or  else  ask  a 
question  in  my  mind.  When  I  Jiad  done  so  and 
returned  the  pen  to  him,  he  put  his  head  on  one 
side,  as  if  waiting  for  an  inspiration,  and  made 
a  great  number  of  dots,  in  rows  one  underneath  the 
other,  like  an  inverted  pyramid.  Then  he  proceeded  to 
join  certain  of  the  dots  with  lines,  and  repeated  the 
operation  several  times  over,  obtaining  a  total  from 
each  group  of  dots  and  enclosing  it  in  a  circle.  After 
further  calculations,  he  began  to  talk  rapidly  for  some 
minutes,  after  which  the  guide  gave  me  the  gist  of 
what  he  had  been  saying.  On  the  whole  he  seemed  to 
have  divined  fairly  well  what  I  had  been  thinking  about, 
though  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  guess  it  in 
the  ordinary  way.  He  was  inclined  to  ask  me  a  great 
many  questions  after  his  first  long  speech  ;  and  though 
I  did  not  answer  him,  he  may  have  gathered  some- 
thing from  the  expression  of  my  face.  When  I  in- 
quired what  I  had  to  pay,  he  replied  that  his  art  was 
beyond  all  price,  but  he  accepted  with  gratitude  the 
small  coin  which  I  laid  upon  his  table.  With  Mrs. 
Vivian  he  was  less  successful,  going  off  upon  an 
entirely  wrong  tack,  and  refusing  to  be  set  right ;  but 
apart  from  that  he  contrived  to  tell  her  one  or  two 
surprising  things. 


Chapter  V 


The  Jews  of  Tunis — "Leghorns" — Industries — Nomad  Camp-fol- 
lowers— Education — Rapacity — Anti-Semitic  Riots — Organiza- 
tion— Poor- Laws — Law-Giving — The  Jewish  Quarter — Houses 
—Religion — Ritual — Saints — Guardian  Angels — -The  Sabbath 
— Missions  to  Jews — Food — The  Family  —  A  Wedding — A 
Funeral — Literature  and  Art — Negroes 

The  Jews  of  TUNIS  is  one  of  the  chief  resorts  of  Hebrews 
[>unls'  on  the  Mediterranean.  They  are  of  mixed 
race  and  origin,  and  many  of  them  are  difficult  to 
distinguish  in  appearance  from  civilized  beings.  The 
Syrian  element  does  not  predominate,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  their  ancestors  may  have  been  the  fair- 
haired  Amorites.  Vulture-noses  are  by  no  means 
characteristic. 

The  most  Hebrew-looking  are  those  who 
came  originally  from  Leghorn.  These  have 
a  different  ritual,  and  in  1824  obtained  a  separate 
administration  from  the  Bey,  which  lasted  until  1895. 
They  form  a  kind  of  Jewish  aristocracy,  and  are  now 
among  the  most  strenuous  opponents  of  the  French 
occupation.  In  the  days  when  Jews  were  restricted 
to  a  particular  costume,  they  obtained  the  privilege 
of  wearing  a  distinctive  white  cotton  cap,  but  now 


118 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  119 

they  have  taken  to  wearing  European  tweeds  and  the 
sheshia. 

Unlike  most  other  Jews,  those  of  Tunisia 

Industries.  111.1  11 

occupy  themselves  largely  with  manual  la- 
bour, their  favourite  occupations  being  tailoring,  boot- 
making,  embroidery,  weaving,  tinkering,  and  the 
manufacture  of  gold  and  silver  ornaments.  They 
have  also  a  great  many  butchers'  shops,  which  are 
under  the  control  of  the  rabbis,  who  also  fix  the  price 
of  meat  and  levy  a  tax  upon  it  for  charitable  pur- 
poses. They  seem  to  have  adopted  in  nearly  every 
case  the  industries  neglected  by  the  Arabs.  Origin- 
ally the  Arabs,  wearing  little  more  than  a  blanket, 
needed  no  tailors,  and  the  Jews  obtained  the  monopoly 
of  tailoring.  A  whole  street  in  the  bazaars  is  given 
up  to  Jewish  tailors,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  house  in 
the  whole  Jewish  quarter  which  does  not  contain  a 
tailor's  work-shop.  Oftener  than  not,  this  is  little  more 
than  a  recess,  open  to  the  street,  where  you  may 
observe  the  tailors,  bending  over  their  work  with 
circular  backs  and  plying  their  needles  in  feverish 
haste.  It  is  curious  that  the  Jews  should  have  ob- 
tained a  practical  monopoly  of  gold  and  silver  work. 
It  was  probably  found  impossible  to  keep  them  away 
from  the  precious  metals,  but  their  designs  are  always 
in  the  worst  possible  taste. 

If  the  Jews  are  not  artistic,  they  are  at  any  rate 
ingenious,  and  there  is  no  limit  to  the  variety  of  things 
for  which  they'will  find  some  practical  use.  Petroleum 
being  largely  used  in  Tunisia,  there  is  a  great  accumu- 
lation of  the  tins  in  which  it  has  been  conveyed. 


120  TUNISIA 

These  have  become  the  principal  material  for  the 
Jewish  ironmonger,  and  traces  of  them  are  to  be  found 
all  over  the  country.  In  the  interior  your  water  is 
nearly  always  brought  up  in  an  old  petroleum  tin,  with 
a  wooden  bar  fitted  across  the  top  as  a  handle,  and  I 
have  also  seen  it  used  for  making  saucepans,  flower- 
pots, walls,  drums,  and  almost  everything  except  hats. 
In  some  parts  of  the  interior  there  are 

Nomad  .... 

camp-     still  groups  ot    I  ews  living  in  tents  amoncr 

followers.  .J 

the  nomadic  tribes  of  Arabs,  as  they  have 
done  from  time  immemorial.  They  appear  to  be 
descended  from  Berbers  who  adopted  the  Jewish  re- 
ligion, and  for  the  most  part  they  earn  their  living  as 
blacksmiths.  Before  the  French  occupation  Jews 
were  not  allowed  to  live  outside  their  quarter,  but 
now  they  are  gradually  spreading  into  the  French 
part  of  the  town. 

They  greedily  seize  whatever  educational 

advantages  the  French  have  to  offer,  nor  do 
they  shrink  even  from  attending  missionary  schools, 
and  glibly  repeating  Christian  prayers  and  hymns  and 
creeds  which  they  do  not  profess  to  believe  for  a 
moment.  In  another  generation  or  two  we  shall  find 
in  Tunis  an  educated  Jewish  population,  cherishing  no 
sympathies  with  the  French  Government  or  any  form 
of  European  civilization,  and  able  to  beat  any  com- 
mercial rivals  out  of  the  field.  Their  subtle  ingenuity 
will  certainly  constitute  a  greater  menace  to  French 
colonial  enterprise  than  any  possibility  of  an  Arab 
rising.  One  difference  between  the  Jew  and  the  Arab 
is  that  while  an  Arab  will  forget  what  he  has  learnt 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  121 

in  an  European  school  when  he  gets  home,  a  Jew  is 
accompanied  to  school  by  his  women-kind,  who  are 
just  as  eager  to  learn  as  himself. 

The  Jews  of  the  town  of  Tunis  alone  are 

Rapacity. 

more  numerous  than  those  in  the  whole  of 
Algeria.  They  are  not,  however,  so  thoroughly 
"distilled,"  and  the  race  hatred  is  accordingly  far  less 
developed,  particularly  as  the  Arabs  of  Tunisia  are 
much  milder  than  those  of  Algeria.  The  Tunisian 
Jews,  however,  like  most  others,  are  up  to  all  sorts 
of  tricks,  among  which  fraudulent  bankruptcies  are 
the  favourites. 

Their  method  of  bankruptcy  is  to  conceal  a  large 
portion  of  their  property,  live  in  ostentatious  poverty 
until  their  neighbours  have  begun  to  forget  them,  and 
then  start  business  again  with  a  clean  slate.  By  re- 
peating this  process  at  intervals  of  a  few  years  they 
often  become  very  rich.  They  are  also  extremely 
loth  to  pay  the  people  they  employ.  I  heard  a  hard 
case  which  happened  the  other  day  at  Gabes.  Some 
Jews  obtained  a  contract  to  supply  the  garrison  of 
Mednin,  fifty  miles  away,  with  corn  and  hay.  They 
engaged  a  number  of  Arabs  to  effect  the  transport  at 
a  miserably  low  rate  of  pay,  and  then  tired  them  out 
by  an  endless  succession  of  subterfuges,  until  they 
abandoned  all  hope  of  securing  even  their  pittance. 
It  is  certainly  regrettable  that  the;  French  authorities, 
with  their  theories  of  paternal  government,  should 
not  take  steps  to  render  such  incidents  impossible. 

In  Tunis,  just  as  much  as  an)' where  else,  the  chief 
occupation  of  a  Jew  is  the:  handling  of  money.  At 


122  TUNISIA 

almost  every  street  corner  you  may  see  the  tables 
of  the  money-changers  covered  with  piles  of  copper 
coin,  and  in  every  case  conducted  by  Jews.  Their 
religion  forbids  them  to  practise  usury  among  them- 
selves, but  they  evade  this  by  having  recourse  to  a 
go-between,  whose  commission  naturally  increases  the 
interest.  He  borrows  the  money  from  one  Jew  in 
order  to  lend  it  immediately  to  another,  and  in  this 
case  the  interest  generally  amounts  to  ten  or  twelve 
per  cent.  When  a  Jew  lends  to  an  Arab,  he  naturally 
exacts  a  great  deal  more. 

Anti-semitic  During  the  riots  in  Algiers,  Tunis  plumed 
Riots.  herself  on  ner  peaceable  attitude  towards 
the  Jews ;  but  not  long  afterwards  a  disturbance  took 
place  and,  by  the  negligence  of  the  authorities,  was 
permitted  to  assume  serious  proportions.  The  affair 
was  brought  on  by  the  Jews,  who  lost  their  heads 
when  one  of  their  number  had  been  wounded  in  the 
course  of  some  slight  altercation.  They  barricaded 
themselves  in  a  house,  climbed  on  to  the  roof,  tore 
up  the  parapet  of  masonry,  and  proceeded  to  pelt 
persons  in  the  street  indiscriminately.  Then  a  band 
of  them  broke  into  the  mosque  attached  to  a  zawia  or 
hostelry  for  poor  Muhammadans,  and  desecrated  it  in 
a  peculiarly  disgusting  manner.  This  provoked  de- 
monstrations on  the  part  of  the  Arabs,  which  it  should 
not  have  been  difficult  to  suppress  at  once.  The  French 
authorities,  however,  displayed  so  much  weakness 
that  business  remained  at  a  stand- still,  and  the  native 
quarters  in  an  uproar,  for  several  days.  I  mingled 
with  the  crowd  of  Arabs,  and  found  it  decidedly  good- 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  123 

humoured.  The  Jewish  quarter  presented  a  curious 
sight  when  I  drove  through  it  one  afternoon.  Heavy 
iron  shutters  had  been  pulled  down  over  almost  every 
shop  front,  and  an  occasional  Jew  stood  peering  out 
of  his  doorway,  ready  to  dart  in  and  barricade  himself 
at  the  first  alarm.  Most  of  the  men,  however,  had 
taken  refuge  in  crowds  on  the  flat  roofs,  and  stared 
sourly  at  the  rare  traffic,  while  the  women,  dressed 
in  their  bright  velvets  and  rabbit-skins,  as  on  their 
sabbaths  and  hey-days,  thronged  the  narrow  grated 
windows.  Anxiety  hung  heavy  on  the  air,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  the  quarter  were  in  instant  apprehension 
of  an  invading  army. 

I  heard  many  complaints  of  the  hardships  under- 
gone by  the  poorer  Jews,  particularly  the  tailors,  who 
toil  early  and  late  for  a  pittance,  and,  living  from  hand 
to  mouth,  were  destitute  after  four  days'  enforced 
idleness.  As,  however,  the  Jews  began  the  trouble, 
it  was  impossible  to  feel  surprised  that  the  Arabs 
should  have  retaliated,  particularly  when  we  remem- 
ber the  state  of  subjection  of  the  Jews  in  Tunisia  not 
so  very  long  ago. 

Under  the  Beys,  Jews  were  forbidden  to  wear 
light  burnuses  or  fezzes  with  a  tassel,  which  is 
considered  an  emblem  of  the  Moslem  faith  ;  they 
were  forced  to  attach  a  sleigh-bell  to  their  clothes, 
that  the  faithful  might  be  warned  of  their  approach  ; 
they  might  ride  asses  outside;  the  walls,  but  nowhere 
and  under  no  circumstances  horses ;  when  they 
passed  a  mosque  they  were  compelled  to  take  off 
their  shoes  and  carry  them  ;  and  they  were  always 


124  TUNISIA 

at  the  beck  and  call  of  any  Moslem  who  might  re- 
quire them  to  fag  for  him.  Often,  when  the  streets 
were  wet,  an  Arab  would  hail  the  nearest  Jew  to 
carry  him  on  his  back  to  the  opposite  pavement. 
Even  under  the  French  regimen  it  is  the  custom  to 
address  a  Jew  as  "  Pig,  son  of  a  Pig,"  "  Dog,  son  of 
a  Dog,"  "Carrion,"  "Kaffir,"  and  "Judas,"  as  a 
matter  of  course  and  without  special  ill-will  or  pro- 
vocation. 

It  therefore  speaks  much  for  the  sober  temper  of 
the  Arab  population  in  Tunis  that  the  troubles  should 
have  passed  off  so  easily.  No  lives  were  taken  and 
few  serious  wounds  inflicted.  Indeed,  the  attitude  of 
the  Arabs  often  recalled  to  me  that  of  boys  engaged 
in  a  cat  hunt,  knowing  that  the  pastime  was  forbidden, 
and  enjoying  it  all  the  more  thoroughly  for  that.  A 
local  journal  reported  that  the  Arabs  congregated  in 
crowds,  which  maintained  an  impassive  demeanour 
while  the  police  were  about,  but,  when  they  fancied 
themselves  unobserved,  gave  way  to  a  gaitt  parfaite- 
ment  ddplacde  \ 

The   Jews   of  Tunis  form   a  state  within 

Organization.  ... 

a  state,  and  deserve  attention  in  view  ot 
the  possibilities  of  an  independent  Jewish  nation 
being  one  day  established  in  Palestine,  or  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea.  No  doubt,  the  Jews  have  occupied 
a  position  of  subjection  in  Tunisia,  but,  on  the  whole, 
they  have  probably  been  better  off  there  than  in 
most  other  countries.  On  one  occasion,  Tunis  actually 
went  to  war  with  Venice  solely  to  defend  their  rights. 
The  Jews  are  admissible  to  most  public  functions, 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  125 

especially  in  their  own  particular  province  of  finance. 
The  receiver-general  of  finance  has  always  been  a 
Jew,  and  he  now  also  occupies  the  position  of  ka'id 
of  the  Jews.  He  is  nominated,  subject  to  the  Bey's 
approval,  by  the  chief  rabbi  and  the  various  notables 
and  notaries.  He  possesses  a  veto  upon  the  decision 
of  the  common  council,  and,  like  other  kaids,  is  a 
judge  with  power  to  condemn  to  fines,  imprisonment, 
and  the  bastinado. 

The  object   of  all    Hebrew    law-giving   is 

Poor-Laws. 

not  so  much  to  punish  as  to  prevent,  and 
great  efforts  are  accordingly  made  to  do  away  with 
all  the  pretexts  of  crime  founded  upon  want.  There 
is  a  tax  of  2d.  a  Ib.  on  all  meat  purchased  by  Jews, 
as  well  as  an  impost  of  ,£4,000  to  ^  8,000  on  the 
[ewish  slaughter-houses.  In  addition  to  this,  there 

J  o 

is  a  sort  of  voluntary  progressive  income  tax,  which 
is  very  generally  paid.  Out  of  this  income,  over 
6,000  paupers  are  annually  relieved  to  the  extent  of 
some  8s.  a  head,  a  general  distribution  of  alms  is 
made  at  Easter,  and  education  is  endowed. 

The  sentences  of  the    Jewish   tribunal   are 

Law-Giving. 

carried  out  by  the  Moslem  authorities,  and 
they  generally  err  on  the  side  of  leniency.  Efforts 
are  also  made  by  the  Hebrew  authorities  to  check 
sharp  practice  and  even  excessive  competition  between 
Jews. 

If  a  Hebrew  state  ever  came  into  existence,  we 
should  probably  find  that  there  was  no  army  and 
scarcely  any  police,  and  that  most  of  the  judgments 
depended  upon  a  kind  of  rough  equity,  while  the 


126  TUNISIA 

regulations  of    commerce  and   the  safeguards  against 
property  had  a  distinct  tinge  of  socialism. 

The  chief  grievance  of  the  Jews  is  that,  besides 
being  amenable  to  their  own  tribunals,  they  are 
also  subject  to  those  of  the  Arabs.  They  complain 
that,  when  there  is  a  lawsuit  between  a  Jew  and 
an  Arab,  the  Arab  tribunal  generally  contrives  to 
stretch  a  good  many  points  in  favour  of  a  co-re- 
ligionist. Very  often  a  Jew  will  make  a  fictitious 
transfer  of  his  claims  to  a  friendly  Arab,  who  sues 
in  his  stead  and  has  a  better  chance  of  obtaining 
justice.  In  criminal  cases,  too,  the  Arabs  are  not 
tender  to  the  Jews.  There  was  a  case,  not  many 
years  ago,  of  a  Jew  being  summoned  before  the 
Arab  tribunal,  for  blasphemy  against  Jesus  Christ, 
who  was  set  down  in  the  charge  as  a  great  Muham- 
madan  Saint.  The  man's  crime  had  consisted  in  the 
crucifixion  of  a  rat,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  seven 
weeks'  imprisonment. 

The  Jewish  When  you  have  passed  through  the  Gate 
Quarter.  ^  France  at  Tunis,  you  feel  that  you  have 
crossed  the  threshold  from  Europe  into  Africa.  A 
street  on  the  left  takes  you  to  the  Arab  bazaars, 
while  a  street  on  the  right  plunges  you  at  once 
into  the  thick  of  the  Jewish  quarter.  Nowhere  else, 
surely,  may  you  see  streets  so  narrow  or  so  dirty. 
Even  the  ghettos  of  Frankfort  or  East  London 
cannot  compare  with  this.  From  the  opposite  windows 
of  the  high  houses  it  is  an  easy  step.  Every  ugly 
smell,  from  the  penetrating  effluvia  of  fried  fish  to 
the  sickening  odours  of  rags  and  rotting  meat, 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  129 

confronts  you.  In  every  shop  and  corner  are  black 
masses  of  sluggish  flies,  and,  still  more  revolting, 
insects  feasting  upon  a  wealth  of  offal.  The  streets 
take  all  sorts  of  unreasonable  curves  as  the  fancy 
seizes  them,  and  houses  project  or  retire  from  the 
roadway  in  the  most  hopeless  disorder.  On  either 
hand  are  blind  alleys  and  dark  cellars,  suggestive 
of  hideous  mysteries. 

The  Tews  are  not  exclusive  as  the  Arabs 

Houses. 

are,  and  there  is  not  the  same  difficulty 
about  obtaining  admission  to  their  houses.  You 
need  but  to  walk  through  the  quarter  at  any  time— 
a  Saturday  afternoon  for  choice  if  you  wish  to 
study  the  costumes, — ask  the  children  lounging  at 
the  door  of  any  house  whether  you  may  come  in, 
and  they  will  paw  the  air  at  once  with  a  gesture 
intended  to  beckon  you  in.  You  find  a  courtyard, 
as  in  the  Arab  houses,  and  all  the  rooms  open  on 
to  it.  As  a  rule,  excepting  in  the  case  of  rich  Jews, 
each  room  is  the  home  of  a  separate  family,  and 
Jewish  families  are  as  lar^e  here  as  elsewhere.  How 

J  o 

they  stow  themselves  away  is  a  standing  puzzle, 
and  you  are  constantly  reminded  of  a  rabbit-warren. 
The  furniture  of  a  room  seems  to  consist  of  a 
table,  like  the  section  of  a  tree-trunk,  mounted  on 
stumpy  legs,  and  of  a  huge  family-bed,  capable  of 
holding  a  dozen  persons  at  a  pinch.  There  is  a 
wardrobe,  or  merely  a  packing-case,  to  contain  the 
Sabbath  finery,  and  that  is  about  all.  In  one  corner 
is  a  stove  with  a  number  of  grimy  pots  and  pans. 
A  heavy  indefinable  odour  of  drains,  dirt,  horrible 


130  TUNISIA 

cookery,  oppresses  the  air,  and  you  are  very  glad 
to  come  out  again  as  soon  as  possible.  Directly 
you  make  a  movement  to  depart,  the  whole  family, 
from  the  venerable  patriarch  with  his  long,  grimy 
beard  to  the  half-naked  urchin  scarcely  able  to  toddle, 
stretch  out  their  hands  with  one  accord  and  clamour 
for  money  ;  but  if  you  are  wise,  you  will  content 
yourself  with  giving  a  small  lump  sum,  instead  of 
distributing  doles  to  a  crowd,  which  you  could  never 
hope  to  satisfy. 

The    difference    between    a    Jewish    rabbi 

Religion. 

and  a  Christian  priest  is  well  illustrated  by 
the  fact  that,  while  a  priest  blesses  his  congregation 
in  the  name  of  God,  a  rabbi  is  content  to  bless 
God  in  the  name  of  the  congregation.  The  rabbi, 
indeed,  possesses  very  little  of  the  ecclesiastical 
character.  Only  if  he  be  a  butcher  or  a  circumciser 
are  any  special  qualifications  required  of  him,  and 
these  amount  to  little  more  than  that  he  shall  be 
able  to  tell  good  meat  from  bad  and  to  sharpen  a 
knife  properly.  Similarly,  a  synagogue  has  very 
little  to  distinguish  it  from  an  ordinary  house.  The 
rabbi  often  lives  in  part  of  it,  and  most  of  the  ground 
floor  may  be  given  up  to  shop-keepers  and  money- 
changers. As  a  rule  there  is  merely  a  courtyard, 
where  the  men  assemble,  and  a  gallery  for  the 
women.  No  attempt  is  made  to  keep  the  place 
tidy,  still  less  to  beautify  it.  The  floor  is  generally 
paved  with  ugly  tiles,  cracked  and  unwashed,  and 
in  one  case  I  noticed  upon  the  walls  a  series  of 
deplorable  lithographs  depicting  the  King  of 'Sardinia, 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  131 

a  President  of  the  French  Republic,  and  Frith's 
Derby  Day.  A  German  traveller  has  compared  the 
synagogues  of  Tunis  to  a  stock  exchange  or  a 
coffee-house.  Every  one  lounges  about,  discusses 
current  events  in  a  loud  voice,  chaffs  and  laughs, 

o 

in  a  way  quite  inconsistent  with  any  idea  of  sanctity 
attaching  to  the  house  of  prayer.  The  sermons  are 
even  more  irreverently  jocular  than  those  of  the 
late  Mr.  Spurgeon,  and  it  is  by  no  means  unusual 
for  one  of  the  congregation  to  interrupt  the  preacher 
in  a  ribald  way,  or  engage  upon  an  angry  discussion 
with  him. 

So  little  does  any  particular  sanctity  attach  to 
a  synagogue  that  any  private  house,  where  ten 
persons  are  gathered  together,  may  be  regarded 
as  a  synagogue  for  all  practical  purposes.  A  Jew 
attains  his  religious  majority  at  the  age  of  thirteen. 
Then,  as  was  the  case  with  Christ,  he  is  taken  to 
the  synagogue  to  show  that  he  can  read  the  Scriptures 
and  answer  an  interrogatory  upon  Hebrew  ritual 
and  dogma.  After  this,  he  has  the  right  to  wear 
a  linen  veil  over  his  shoulders  on  ceremonial  occasions, 
and  he  is  expected  to  fast  and  pray  regularly. 

The  anti-Semites  of  Tunis   firmly  believe 

Ritual.  ,  ... 

that  the  Jews  there  kidnap  Christian  children, 
to  drink  their  blood  during  the  ceremonies  of  passover, 
and  this  belief  has  been  so  generally  established 
in  all  countries  since  so  main-  centuries,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  reject  it  altogether,  though  proofs  are 
by  no  means  easy  to  obtain,  particularly  in  «i  country 
where  the  registration  of  deaths  is  non-existent. 


I32  TUNISIA 

When  a  Jew  is  about  to  pray,  he  touches  his 
forehead  with  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures  and  twists 
a  leather  strap  ten  times  round  his  left  arm  as  a 
symbol  of  restraining  evil  thoughts  and  leaving  free 
current  to  the  good.  Unlike  the  Christian  and  the 
Muhammadan,  he  never  uses  a  rosary. 

The  Jews,  unlike  the  Arabs,  are  more  strict  in  the 
observance  of  their  religion  in  the  country  than 
in  the  towns.  At  one  place  I  heard  of  a  Jew 
who  took  the  trouble  to  carry  a  fowl  ten  miles, 
in  order  to  have  it  killed  by  his  rabbi,  and,  the 
rabbi  being  away  at  the  time,  brought  the  bird 
home  again  patiently,  and  went  without  his  dinner. 
In  many  towns,  however,  it  is  quite  common  to 
find  the  young  Jews  go  to  European  restaurants 
for  their  dinner,  and  eat  the  ordinary  food,  not 
excepting  pork.  One  would  accordingly  expect  to 
find  them  unusually  easy-going,  but,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  are  a  great  deal  more  fanatically  anti- 
Christian  and  anti- Muhammadan  than  the  old-fashioned 
Jews,  who  observe  the  letter  of  the  law  strictly. 

It   is    probably    from   the    Muhammadans 

Saints.  \ 

that  Tunisian  Jews  derive  their  veneration 
of  Saints.  Indeed,  some  of  them  go  so  far  as  to 
repair  to  Muhammadan  places  of  pilgrimage,  and 
to  burn  candles  in  the  zawia  of  Sidi  Mahrez,  who 
was  the  first  to  permit  Jews  to  dwell  inside  the 
city.  The  favourite  Jew  saint  is  a  certain  rabbi 
Simon,  who  happened  to  be  the  last  man  to  die 
during  an  epidemic,  and  was  accordingly  supposed 
to  have  stayed  it  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  life. 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  133 

A  day  is  consecrated  to  his  honour,  and  the  Jews 
then  take  their  children  to  his  shrine  in  the  evening 
with  candles  and  flowers.  They  burn  there  a  curious 
perfume,  made  up  of  jasmin  and  tallow,  and  drink 
a  great  deal  of  their  favourite  liqueur  to  his  memory. 
Guardian  One  evening,  when  I  was  in  Southern 
Tunisia,  I  was  surprised  to  notice  a  great 
concourse  of  Jews  struggling  to  draw  water  from 
a  well.  Inquiring  what  it  all  meant,  I  was  told  : 
"  We  Jews  believe  that  there  are  legions  of  guardian 
angels,  who  watch  over  the  earth,  air,  fire  and 
water  respectively.  We  know  from  tradition  that 
those  whose  business  it  is  to  protect  this  well  change 
guard  once  a  year  on  this  day,  but  we  cannot  tell 
the  precise  moment ;  our  rabbis  can  only  assure 
us  that  it  is  between  the  hours  of  three  and  six  in 
the  afternoon.  As  there  would,  undoubtedly,  be  a 
pestilence  in  the  village  if  water,  which  had  been 
drawn  at  the  unguarded  instant,  were  drunk,  we 
do  not  go  near  the  well  for  the  whole  three  hours  ; 
and,  as  we  need  water  for  our  suppers,  you  may 
understand  this  scramble  now  that  six  o'clock  is 
past/'  The  Jews  here  are  evidently  of  the  sect  of 
the  Sadducees,  which  "  believe  in  angels  and  spirits." 
The  Arabs  of  the  neighbourhood  have  a  kindred 
belief  respecting  the  sea.  Their  tradition  is  that 
on  one  night  of  the  year,  at  the  stroke  of  twelve, 
the  water-Jinns  relieve  guard,  and  the.  sea-water 
becomes  momentarily  sweet.  As  it  is  very  lucky 
to  taste  it  in  that  condition,  the  whole  population, 
with  all  the  animals,  plunge  into  the  water,  and, 


134  TUNISIA 

with  the  help  of  a   vivid   imagination,    often    try  to 
persuade  themselves  that  the  sea  has  lost  its  saltness. 
The   best   day    for    visiting    the    Jewish 

The  Sabbath.  ' 

quarter  is  a  Saturday,  not  merely  because 
the  finest  clothes  are  to  be  seen  then,  but  also  because 
there  has  been  a  certain  attempt  at  cleaning  up 
the  night  before.  All  wear  their  brightest  colours, 
the  women's  pantaloons  are  freshly  washed,  and  their 
faces  elaborately  rouged.  They  seem  to  idle  away 
the  whole  day,  lounging  at  the  doorways  and  at 
the  windows.  Sometimes  there  will  be  as  many  as 
twelve  or  fourteen  faces  huddled  together  at  one  small 
window,  gaping  out  upon  the  street,  where  there 
is  really  nothing  to  see  except  crowds  of  children 
engaged  in  noisy  games.  Once  when  I  was  walking 
through  with  an  Arab  guide,  he  was  appealed  to 
by  a  small  boy  of  his  own  race,  whom  the  little 
Jews  had  been  teasing.  This  made  him  very  furious, 
and  he  took  up  the  cudgels  at  once,  brandishing 
a  large  stick  and  apostrophizing  the  crowd  as  pigs, 
dogs,  and  carrion. 

The  more  prosperous  Jewesses  wear  high  sugar- 
loaf  caps,  with  a  silk  scarf  round  them,  recalling 
Mother  Shipton  or  Bacon's  "  mobled  queen."  Over 
their  white  trousers  are  short  silk  coats,  of  the 
brightest  cherry,  mustard,  or  emerald  velvet,  gener- 
ally trimmed  with  rabbit-skins.  The  Jewish  sabbath 
is  by  no  means  an  indulgent  holiday,  apart  from 
the  dispensation  from  work.  Not  only  is  there  no 
feasting,  because  there  can  be  no  cooking,  but  even 
smoking  is  forbidden,  not  because  it  would  in  itself 


JEWS  AND  NIGGERS  133 

be  a  labour,  but  because  the  law  has  forbidden 
the  lighting  of  a  fire  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  the 
striking  of  a  match  is  considered  by  strict  Jews  to 


be  covered  by  this  injunction.  A  lax  Je\v  will,  n<> 
doubt,  refuse  to  be  bound  by  this  ordinance,  but 
he  will  find  public  opinion  against  him. 


136  TUNISIA 

Missions  to  There  is  an  active  propaganda  in  Tunis 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews.  Several 
thousand  pounds  are  spent  annually  on  this  weighty 
work.  The  tangible  result,  during  more  than  one 
decade,  has  been  the  conversion,  for  value  received, 
of  one  Jew.  He  stipulated  that  he  should  be  con- 
veyed to  London  and  given  a  silk  hat ;  but,  once 
arrived  there,  he  was  no  longer  a  quarry,  and  the 
Society  had  nothing  more  to  say  to  him.  So  he  sold 
his  silk  hat  and  went  to  the  rich  Jews,  who  decided 
that  the  only  thing  to  be  done  was  to  pack  him  back 
to  Tunis,  where  he  remains  as  a  living  object-lesson  of 
the  futility  of  missions  to  the  Jews. 

And  yet  futility  is,  perhaps,  an  excessive  term.  The 
Society  provides  useful  schools,  where  young  Jews  may 
learn  languages,  arithmetic,  and  other  concomitants  of 
commerce  on  submitting  to  instruction  in  the  Christian 
religion.  To  this  they  have  not  the  slightest  objection, 
readily  reciting  hymns  and  prayers  and  even  creeds, 
without  professing  to  believe  them.  One  of  the  mis- 
sionaries told  me  that  he  did  not  despair,  for,  though 
he  had  made  no  converts,  he  thought  he  was  beginning 
to  succeed  in  persuading  his  dairyman  to  cease  from 
adulterating  his  milk.  He  had  provided  himself  with 
a  lactometer,  and  was  now  devoting  all  his  proselytiz- 
ing energies  to  the  propagation  of  pure  milk.  The 
lactometer  only  showed  faint  progress,  but  even  that 
convinced  him  that  Jewish  milkmen  at  least  need  not 
wholly  be  despaired  of. 

Cardinal  Lavigerie's  methods  generally  consisted  in 
appealing  to  Jews  and  Arabs  by  flattery  and  works  of 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  137 

beneficence.  His  missionaries,  the  White  Fathers  of 
Carthage,  are  dressed  up  in  a  kind  of  caricature  of 
Arab  dress,  and  his  cathedral  is  rendered  even  more 
hideous  than  it  would  otherwise  have  been  by  the 
adoption  of  a  parody  of  Arab  architecture.  Food  and 
money  have  been  lavishly  distributed  to  native  house- 
holds, and  the  White  Fathers  have  spared  no  pains 
to  administer  medical  relief  in  more  or  less  amateur 
fashion.  The  only  result,  however,  has  been  that  the 
natives,  both  Arabs  and  Jews,  have  accepted  whatever 
benefits  were  offered,  and,  except  in  a  few  unsatisfac- 
tory cases,  have  clung  steadfastly  to  their  own 
religions. 

The    Tews  consume  almost  as  much  kus- 

Food.  J 

kits  as  the  Arabs,  but  it  is  infinitely  nastier, 
being  prepared  without  the  scrupulous  cleanliness 
which  the  Arabs  owe  to  their  religion,  and  having 
every  kind  of  offal  included  among  the  ingredients. 
Otherwise  there  is  very  little  difference  in  the  food, 
unless  it  be  the  inordinate  consumption  of  IntkJira, 
a  particularly  repulsive  kind  of  anisette,  in  which 
fermented  figs  form  one  of  the  principal  ingredients. 

The  chief  object  amon^  the    lews  all  over 

The  Family. 

the  world  is  to  multiply  their  race  as  much 
as  possible.  "  Those  who  do  not  marry,"  says  the  code 
of  the.  rabbis,  "  are  as  homicides."  To  abstain  from 
having  children  is  considered  as  bad  as  taking  away 
life,  and  all  the  regulations  of  the  Jewish  family  have 
their  first  concern  with  this.  Polygamy  is  permitted, 
but  in  Tunis  it  is  rarely  practised  unless  the  first  wife 
has  no  children,  and  even  then  it  is  often  found 


138  TUNISIA 

simpler  to  divorce  her  and  take  some  one  else  in  her 
place.  Marriages  with  Gentiles  are  forbidden,  not  so 
much  on  account  of  the  exclusiveness  of  the  race,  as 
on  account  of  a  theory  that  such  marriages  only  pro- 
duce daughters.  Until  recently  a  childless  widow  was 
obliged  to  marry  her  brother-in-law,  and,  if  he  refused, 
she  had  the  right  to  have  him  before  the  Courts  and 
go  through  a  ceremony  of  tearing  off  his  shoes  and 
spitting  upon  them.  To  avoid  the  necessity  of  this 
marriage,  however,  a  man  will  now  often  divorce  his 
wife  when  he  is  on  his  death-bed. 

The  drawback  to  large  families  in  most  countries  is 
the  difficulty  of  maintaining  them,  but  the  Jews  bring 
up  their  children  to  maintain  themselves  at  the  earliest 
possible  age.  When  a  boy  is  thirteen,  he  is  considered 
responsible  for  his  own  actions,  and  has  no  claim  to  be 
supported  by  his  family.  He  may  acquire  real  pro- 
perty, make  his  will,  and  set  up  in  business  on  his  own 
account ;  but  should  he  attempt  to  alienate  his  property 
foolishly,  he  finds  that  the  law  has  protected  him  by 
tying  it  up  strictly.  It  is  by  no  means  unusual  in 
Tunis  to  see  a  young  man  of  eighteen  at  the  head  of  a 
larofe  business,  which  he  contrives  to  direct  with  con- 

o 

siderable   skill. 

Next  to,  or  perhaps  even  before,  the  production  of 
children,  the  object  of  a  Jewish  marriage  is  the  increase 
of  riches.  By  strict  law,  a  Jewish  bridegroom  in 
Tunis  must  give  his  bride  a  dowry  of  £S,  as  a  protec- 
tion in  case  of  his  dying  or  divorcing  her.  In  practice 
he  gives  a  great  deal  more,  as  a  rule  the  half  of  the 
dowry  which  she  brings  with  her  and  which  she 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  139 

cannot  leave  to  any  one  but  him.  A  husband  must 
provide  his  wife  with  necessaries,  while  she  must 
engage  herself  on  some  productive  labour,  however 
rich  she  may  be.  She  must  wait  upon  her  husband  at 
meals,  and  take  her  own  afterwards  apart,  and  no  one 
else  may  make  his  bed. 

One  of  the  chief  sights  to  which  the  guides 

A  Wedding. 

are  always  anxious  to  conduct  tourists, 
is  that  of  a  Jewish  wedding.  It  is  the  chief  event  in 
the  history  of  every  Hebrew  family,  and,  in  the  case 
of  people  in  easy  circumstances,  generally  lasts  three 
weeks.  A  fortnight  before  the  ceremony,  the  bride- 
groom sends  a  parcel  of  embroidered  slippers  and 
various  garments  and  cosmetics  for  the  bride's  use. 

o 

Both  then  proceed  in  state,  accompanied  by  all  their 
intimate  friends,  to  their  separate  baths.  The  bride 
soaks  her  hair  in  a  thick,  evil-smelling  oil,  and  rubs 
her  body  with  a  paste  to  remove  all  the  sin  illest  hairs. 
Then  she  makes  up  her  eyes  and  brows  with  thick 
layers  of  kohl,  and  stains  her  fingers  and  toes  a  ruddy 
nicotine  colour  with  henna. 

Then  the  bridegroom  and  his  friends  come  to  the 
bride's  house  for  a  game  of  hide-and-seek.  She  has 
cooked  a  fowl  and  hidden  it  somewhere,  and  the 
superstition  is  that  whoever  finds  it  will  be  married 
within  the  twelve  months.  The  process  of  searching 
causes  the  utmost  merriment,  and  a  great  deal  of 
coarse  horse-play  is  indulged  in.  The  actual  cere- 
mony does  not  take  place  in  the  synagogue,  but 
in  the  house  of  the  bridegroom.  The  staircase  has 
been  newly  whitewashed,  and  a  large  hand  has 


140  TUNISIA 

been  painted  upon  it  with  bullock's  blood  to  ward  oft 
the  evil  eye.  The  bride's  friends  have  all  taken 
part  in  dressing  her  up  in  all  the  finery  imaginable, 
silk  and  tinsel  predominating,  and  she  has  been 
decked  out  with  a  tremendous  weight  of  silver  orna- 
ments and  glittering  rosettes,  which  recall  a  prize 
ox,  particularly  in  view  of  her  extravagant  stout- 
ness, which  is  considered  the  chief  point  of  female 
beauty  among  the  Jews  of  Tunis.  It  is  only  in 
Tunis  and  among  the  negroes  of  Central  Africa  that 
a  woman's  attractiveness  is  measured  by  weight. 

I  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  men  were  admitted 
to  the  ceremony  of  dressing  the  bride.  She  did 
not  seem  in  any  way  abashed,  but  throughout  the 
whole  proceedings  she  had,  according  to  custom,  to 
remain  absolutely  speechless.  In  the  courtyard 
of  the  house  was  a  little  table,  beside  which 
the  bridegroom  awaited  her  standing.  A  kind  of 
throne,  covered  with  cloth  of  gold,  hired  for  the 
occasion,  had  been  placed  there  for  her,  and  she  took 
her  seat  upon  it  with  the  grace  and  manners  of  a 
mummy.  It  was  then  the  bridegroom's  business  to 
take  great  precautions  against  the  possibility  of 
trickery ;  for  a  Jew  will  often  substitute  a  less  desirable 
sister  for  the  intended  bride,  or  else  she  may  have 
some  lover  who  will  seize  the  opportunity  of  placing 
upon  her  finger  his  own  ring  instead  of  that  of  the 
bridegroom,  for  whom  this  would  be  considered  an 
indelible  disgrace.  When  the  ring  has  been  duly 
placed  on  the  bride's  finger  by  the  bridegroom,  an 
infernal  din  is  struck  up  with  drums  and  a  kind  of 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  141 

crooning  song.  The  bride  and  bridegroom  are 
solemnly  covered  over  with  a  large  veil,  as  a  token  of 
their  union.  A  glass  of  wine  is  brought  in,  that  the 
bridegroom's  various  relations  and  the  rabbis  may 
take  a  sip  in  turn.  There  is  a  frightful  scramble 
among  the  other  guests  as  to  who  shall  have  the 
good  fortune  to  finish  the  contents  ;  and,  when  the 
glass  has  been  solemnly  dashed  upon  the  ground, 
another  scramble  for  the  pieces  as  mementoes.  All 
this  takes  place  in  the  bride's  house,  but  next  day  the 
festivities  are  continued  with  a  banquet  at  the  bride- 
groom's. The  bride  has  been  brought  to  the  house, 
with  a  great  show  of  reluctance  on  her  part,  to  the 
accompaniment  of  an  improvised  song  setting  forth 
all  her  merits.  The  banquet  consists  almost  entirely 
of  pastry  and  evil-smelling  liqueurs.  In  the  centre 
of  the  table  is  a  thick  yellow  wax  candle,  guttering 
horribly.  The  bride  sits  cross-legged  on  a  pile  of 
cushions  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and  remains  as 
motionless  as  ever.  She  wears  many  additional  scarves 
of  silk  and  silver,  and  a  number  of  necklaces  of  coins, 
coral,  and  various  amulets. 

To  my  amazement,  when  I  came  in,  the  bride- 
groom rose,  and,  before  I  kne\v  what  he  would  be 
at,  had  given  me  an  embrace.  I  am  afraid  I  was 
unable  altogether  to  hide  my  disgust,  but  I  soon 
soothed  all  possible  susceptibilities  by  handing  over 
the  small  present  I  had  brought  with  me.  There  was 
scarce  any  conversation,  and  every  OIK-  seemed  entirely 
satisfied  with  the  occupation  of  consuming  an  endless 
succession  of  cakes  in  stolid  silence.  Conversation 


142  TUNISIA 

would  indeed  have  been  difficult  in  presence  of  the 
deafening  music,  which  only  ceased  to  give  way  to 
other  entertainers, — a  conjuror,  a  juggler,  and  a  man 
who  imitated,  without  much  success,  the  noises  of  the 
various  animals  known  in  North  Africa.  Later  on, 
singing  and  dancing  women  were  introduced,  and  the 
revelry  went  on  far  into  the  night,  to  be  begun  again 
on  the  following  afternoon. 

The   work    of  an    undertaker   among  the 

A  Funeral. 

Jews  is  not  professional  but  hereditary.  It 
is  vested  in  a  body  of  men  known  as  the  "  Friends  of 
God,"  who  are  especially  respected  in  this  world  and 
expect  particular  privileges  in  the  next.  It  is  their 
business  to  lay  out  a  corpse  for  burial,  and,  gathering 
round  it,  to  sing  through  their  noses  for  a  long  period, 
while  the  women  of  the  family,  led  by  a  professional 
weeper,  lament  with  loud,  artificial  wails  in  a  neigh- 
bouring room.  They  then  carry  the  body  to  a  tomb, 
and  watch  over  it  for  the  next  three  nio-hts. 

o 

Literature  ^n  our  sense  °f  the  words,  literature  and 
and  Art.  art  are  practically  non-existent  among  the 
Jews.  The  nearest  approach  to  art  is,  perhaps,  the  rude 
music,  which  the  Jews  consider  a  profession,  and  have 
established  under  the  authority  of  an  amin,  like  other 
trades.  No  doubt  the  musicians  earn  a  good  deal  of 
money  by  attending  weddings  and  other  revels,  but 
their  music  is  both  discordant  and  monotonous ;  and  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  Tunisian  Jews  must  possess 
a  different  ear  to  other  people,  or  else  that  the  peculiar 
unpleasantness  of  their  music  must  have  been  handed 
down  through  a  succession  of  discordant  generations. 


JEWS   AND   NIGGERS  143 

The  same  preference  for  discord  is  observable  in  the 
Jewish  costumes,  which  in  theory  are  very  much  the 
same  as  those  of  the  Arabs. 

In  many  respects  the  negro  population  is 

Negroes. 

the  most  agreeable  in  I  unis.  hvery  face 
seems  wreathed  in  chronic  smiles,  and  nothing  ever 
seems  to  disturb  their  boundless  equanimity.  It  is 
not  so  very  long  since  the  negroes  were  all  of  them 
slaves,  and  their  emancipation  has  not  yet  had  any  of 
the  evil  effects  which  may  be  observed  in  America. 
The  Muhammadan  religion  had  already  conferred 
upon  them  a  certain  semblance  of  equality  with  their 
masters,  and  they  have  not  become  bumptious  or 
aoforessive.  Three  or  four  different  complexions  and 

OO  1 

natural  characteristics  may  be  noted,  apart  from 
the  various  mixtures  due  to  the  infusion  of  Arab 
blood.  The  blackest  are  those  imported  from  the 
Sudan,  and  they  ma}-  also  be  distinguished  from  those 
born  in  Tunisia  by  the  fact  of  their  being  tattooed. 
On  the  faces  of  some  of  them  may  be  noticed  one  or 
more  thin  scars,  done  with  a  ra/or  each  time  they  were 
bought  or  sold.  They  do  not  wear  a  distinctive 
costume,  but  the  women  generally  affect  a  woollen 
petticoat  with  red  and  white  stripes.  Under  no  cir- 
cumstances will  they  ever  wear  black,  which  they  hold 
in  particular  horror.  They  even  go  so  far  as  to  avoid 
any  profession  which  would  bring  them  into  contact 
with  black.  Their  chief  ambition  is  to  be  employed 
to  whitewash  houses,  which  they  do  by  throwing  the 
whitewash,  instead  of  applying  it  with  a  brush. 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  TUNIS 

Arrival — First  Impressions — Streets — Shops— A  Street  Story-teller 
—  Snake-charmers — The  French  Quarter — Accommodation — 
Food — An  Anglican  Church — Beggars — Marsa — Carthage. 

M.  ZOLA  once  told  me  that,  when  collecting  material 
for  a  book,  he  relies  only  on  the  first  fortnight's 
impressions.  The  more  I  travel,  the  more  is  the 
wisdom  of  this  reflection  brought  home  to  me.  After 
the  first  fortnight  nothing  surprises,  not  even  sur- 
prising Africa,  and  fresh  wonders  only  serve  to  add 
colour  or  detail,  and  at  the  same  time  confusion,  to 
the  picture  begotten  by  the  mind.  Accordingly  I 
hastened  to  set  down  the  prominent  features  of  Tunis 
while  they  still  remained  red-hot  in  my  memory. 

My    steamer's    last    forty    minutes     were 

Arrival  *       .  / 

passed  in  a  narrow  brackish  canal,  flanked 
by  stone  moles.  The  sky  was  of  a  thick  leaden 
hue,  and,  ahead  of  us,  seemed  to  have  come  down  and 
enveloped  Tunis  in  a  great  gloomy  burnus.  Wide- 
sailed  feluccas,  moored  by  the  water's  edge,  like 
monstrous  dragon-flies,  shook  their  wings  impatiently 
as  the  waves  of  the  paddle  overtook  them.  On 
their  decks  I  caught  my  first  glimpses  of  native 


IN   AND   OUT  OF   TUNIS  145 

Africans  —  white  teeth  grinning  a  welcome  from 
frameworks  of  hooded  ebony.  Above  the  bows,  long 
files  of  startled  flamingoes  sped  away  to  their  homes 
in  the  foetid  lakes. 

The  landing-stage  at  last !  The  skies  had  indeed 
come  down.  It  never  rains  at  Tunis,  they  say, 
but  it  does  pour.  There  had  not  been  so  much  as 
a  shower  for  four  years  and  a  half,  I  was  told,  and 
nature  was  evidently  making  up  for  lost  time. 

The  scrimmage  on  the  arrival  at  an  Eastern  port  has 
already  been  described  too  often,  but  cannot  altogether 
be  omitted.  A  dark,  bare-legged  gentleman,  clad  in 
little  more  than  the  old  sack  which  draped  his  head,  had 
come  on  board  with  the  post-office  tug.  He  took 
possession  of  my  twelve  trunks,  lit  a  cigarette,  and 
received  with  a  complacent  smile  the  small  army  of 
porters  who  had  fought  their  passage  across  the 
regular  gangway.  Shouldering  rather  more  trunks 
than  he  could  conveniently  manage,  and  still  puffing 
away  at  his  home-made  cigarette,  he  set  out  trium- 
phantly for  shore.  But  his  triumph  was  of  short  dura- 
tion. The  others  were  not  going  to  submit  tamely  to 
seeing  all  the  luggage  carried  off  piecemeal  by  one 
man.  Each  seized  upon  the  nearest  trunk  and  joined 
the  procession.  The  original  porter  was  furious,  and 
started  a  vehement  altercation,  besides  which  tin;  de- 
bates of  the  Reichsrath  were  an  agape.  What  wealth 
of  gesticulation,  what  declamation,  what  irony,  what 
invective!  It  was  hopeless  to  intervene,  so  I  struggled 
through  the  rain  to  the  Customs-shed,  satisfied  the 

^ 

Bey's  officials  that  I  had  nothing  to  declare,  and  fought 

L 


146  TUNISIA 

my  way  to  the  hotel  omnibus.  Then  the  tun  began  in 
real  earnest.  Everybody  wanted  to  be  paid.  They 
had  had  a  race  from  the  boat  with  my  luggage,  and 
now  expected  me  to  say,  like  Alice's  Dodo,  "  Every- 
body has  won,  and  everybody  must  have  prizes."  I 
referred  them  to  the  hotel  porter,  and  for  a  moment 
he  was  like  to  be  torn  to  pieces.  Never  have  I  seen 
so  great  excitement  produced  by  so  slight  a  cause. 
The  porter  was  evidently  accustomed  to  such  mani- 
festations, and  did  not  share  my  delight  in  the 
dramatic  scene.  He  promptly  decided  to  pay  no- 
body, and  bade  all  claimants  run  after  the  omnibus 
to  the  hotel.  Time  is  not  money  in  Tunis,  so  they 
readily  fell  in  with  the  arrangement,  splashing  steadily 
through  the  mud  and  continuing  their  altercation  at 
the  top  of  their  voices  all  the  way. 

First  Next  day  (December  29th,  1897)  the  sun 
3'  reappeared,  and  I  took  the  first  opportunity 
of  driving  through  the  native  quarters.  The  after- 
noon was  like  a  balmy  English  May-day,  and  the  deep 
blue  sky  formed  an  exquisite  background  to  the  dazzling 
whiteness  of  the  roofs,  domes,  and  walls.  What  most 
impressed  me  was  the  dignity  and  courtesy  of  the 
natives.  The  lon^  white  mantle,  han^ingr  from  their 

o  o       o 

crowns,  seemed  to  add  a  full  cubit  to  their  stature. 
They  stalked,  proudly  erect,  looking  neither  to  the 
right  hand  nor  to  the  left,  and  heeding  a  collision  with 
a  mule  or  a  water-carrier  as  little  as  the  impudence  of 
little  French  boys  who  jeered  or  tugged  at  their  robes. 
Whether  they  were  in  the  poorest  of  rags  or  the  most 
brilliant  of  embroidered  cloaks  made  no  manner  of 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  TUNIS  i  \7 

difference  to  their  majestic  gait.     The  only  puzzle  was 


how  they  contrived    to  hold   their  heads  so  hi<_;h   and 
strut  about  so  grandly  in  slippers  which  did  not  reach 


148  TUNISIA 

their  heels.  You  might  see  a  man  sitting  sideways  on 
the  tail  end  of  a  little  donkey  :  the  man  dangled  his 
legs  like  pendulums,  and  the  donkey  jolted  unceas- 
ingly, but  the  shoes,  poised  upon  the  tips  of  the  toes, 
remained  on  as  securely  as  if  they  were  glued. 

Every  street  was  very  narrow  and  the  pas- 
streets.  . 

sage  ot  a  landau  and  pair  necessarily  caused 

some  confusion.  But  the  people  never  seemed  vexed, 
even  when  a  horse's  nose  dug  them  in  the  back  and 
they  had  to  spring  aside  and  flatten  themselves  suddenly 
against  the  wall.  The  fatalism  of  Islam  was  very  appa- 
rent in  the  street  scenes.  None  seemed  to  take  the 
faintest  notice  of  traffic  until  the  last  possible  moment, 
and  even  when  a  carriage  or  tramcar  almost  ran  down 
an  Arab,  he  stepped  aside  with  the  sublimest  uncon- 
cern. 

From  your  carriage  you  might  observe  every  variety 
of  raggedness,  and  it  was  safe  to  say  that  the  ragged 
people  were  the  most  dignified.  There  were  men  in 
blankets,  in  sheepskins,  in  striped  rugs,  and  in  rotten 
sacking.  Their  only  costume  seemed  to  consist  of  a 
voluminous  head-dress,  intended  to  reach  to  the 
knees.  At  all  costs  heads  must  be  covered,  but  it 
was  quite  unimportant  how  much  of  the  legs  might  be 
exposed.  This  was  most  striking  in  the  case  of  the 
women.  Traditional  modesty  compelled  them  to 
cover  their  faces.  Some  wore  two  black  veils,  leaving 
the  tiniest  aperture  for  their  eyes.  Others  went 
about  like  veiled  prophetesses  of  Khorassan,  holding 
the  ends  of  a  great  curtain  which  concealed  the 
features.  But  in  the  most  modest  cases  the  le^s  were 


IX   AXD   OUT   OF   TUNIS  151 

left  more  bare  than  would  be  tolerated  in  the  least 
squeamish  Paris  music-hall.  The  colours  of  the  men's 
cloaks  were  entrancing.  The  softest  salmon  pink, 
green,  or  cornllo\ver  blues  were  to  be  seen  at  every 
corner,  and  put  to  shame  the  most  ambitious  creations 
of  Paris  milliners. 

As  everywhere  else  in  the   Hast,  the  shops 

Shops. 

were  great  doorless  cupboards  open  to  the 
street.  Except  in  the  bazaars  all  the  goods  were  spread 
out  to  the  public  gaze,  and  the  vendors  reclined  on 
mats,  or  squatted  cross-legged  on  divans.  Never  had 
I  seen  anything  to  compare  with  the  natural  ojstheticism 
of  their  arrangement  or  the  brilliancy  of  their  colours. 
Most  charming  of  all  were  the  fruit-shops,  with  rows 
of  light  blood- oranges  festooned  upon  the  rafters, 
clusters  of  chillies,  like  prodigious  fairy-lamps  illumin- 
ing the  darker  corners,  and  great  sacks  of  glistening 
dates  upon  the  counters.  Even  the  butchers'  shops 
were  picturesque,  and  it  was  always  a  fascination  to 
watch  the  cross-legged  Arabs  plying  their  esparto- 
switches  to  keep  off  the  flies,  who  forgathered  even  in 
mid-winter.  The  hemp  and  rope  shops  presented  a 
fascinating  array,  as  did  the  ironmongeries  with  rusty 
chains  and  huge  keys  in  clumsy  locks  all  dangling  at 
the  doors.  Driving  along,  there  were  charming  peeps 
into  native  coffee-houses,  where  rows  of  turbaned  digni- 
taries lay  wrapped  in  contemplation  or  played  unruffled 
games  of  cards.  Even  in  December  it  was  an  open- 
air  existence,  and  the  divans  outside  the  shops  were 
studded  with  contented  dreamers. 

At  every   street   corner   were   water-taps,    testifying 


152  TUNISIA 

to  the  Moslem's  teetotalism.     All  day  a  succession  of 
water-drinkers    might   be  seen  there,  many  of  them 
armed  with  strange  old-world  skins,  formed  with  the 
whole  body  of  a  goat. 
A  street        Among   the   most  amusing  sights   was   a 

Story-teller.  ^^    story_teller  First    he    collected     his 

audience  in  a  circle  round  him  by  much  banging  of  his 
tambourine.  Then  he  proceeded  to  spin  the  most 
marvellous  yarns,  only  stopping  to  collect  pennies 
when  he  reached  a  climax  of  excitement,  and  per- 
ceived that  his  hearers  were  burning  to  know  what 
happened  next  to  the  princess,  or  the  Jinn,  or  the 
enchanted  casket.  He  reminded  me  of  the  sensational 
magazines,  which  always  take  care  to  close  the  instal- 
ments of  their  serials  at  the  most  breathless  situations. 
When  he  had  collected  as  much  as  he  fancied  would 
be  volunteered  by  his  hearers,  he  would  count  up  the 
total  and  announce  that  he  must  have  so  many  more 
pence  before  revealing  another  syllable  of  the  story. 
He  was  generally  as  good  as  his  word,  and  it  was  the 
most  inquisitive  part  of  the  audience  which  had  to  pay. 
According  to  the  interest  ot  a  story  and  the  greed  of 
the  teller,  the  frequency  of  these  demands  varied,  but 
they  were  always  introduced  with  so  much  humour 
and  ingenuity  that  no  one  could  possibly  resent  them, 
snake-  Similar  methods  are  adopted  by  the 
charmers,  snake-charmers.  They  beat  a  drum  to 
attract  the  crowd,  and  then  deposit  in  the  centre  of 
a  circle  a  long  pear-shaped  basket  and  a  kind  of 
bundle  or  bag  made  of  old  rags.  These  contain 
the  serpents,  which  are  induced  to  put  their  heads 


TUNIS  :     A   DOOR 


IN   AND  OUT   OF   TUNIS  157 

out  in  order  to  arouse  the  public  curiosity,  but  the 
performance  itself  never  begins  until  a  satisfactory 
collection  has  been  made.  The  serpent  will  then 
follow  the  charmer  round  and  round  the  circle  while  he 
pipes  to  it  upon  a  rustic  flute,  or  it  will  sit  up  and 
make  furious  darts  at  him  when  he  has  subjected  it  to 
a  long  process  of  teasing.  An  Arab  told  me  that  the 
fangs  of  these  serpents  are  never  removed,  and  that 
most  of  the  charmers  come  to  grief  very  early  in  their 
careers.  I  believe  that  what  they  rely  upon  is  teasing 
the  serpent,  and  making  it  dart  against  its  basket  or 
some  other  hard  substance  till  it  has  spent  its  venom  ; 
but,  even  so,  it  is  not  appetizing  to  see  the  man  hold 
up  a  serpent  in  front  of  his  mouth,  and  allow  it  to  sting 
his  outstretched  tongue  again  and  again. 
The  French  Though  the  French  do  little  to  attract 
ter'  colonists,  I  must  not  omit  to  record  that  they 
lay  themselves  out  to  provide  what  they  consider  the 
most  important  attraction  of  all.  When  a  Frenchman 
leaves  his  native  country,  he  is  concerned  with  solid 
creature  comforts  very  little,  and  with  scenery,  pictur- 
esque customs,  intellectual  interests  not  at  all.  But  he 
considers  it  absolutely  necessary  at  all  costs  to  have 
what  he  calls  "distractions."  If  they  are  absent,  he  docs 
not  consider  a  place  worth  living  in.  Accordingly, 
serious  efforts  have  been  made  to  render  Tunis  at 
least  habitable  in  this  respect.  There  is  a  modest 
theatre,  where  immodest  pieces  and  light  opera  per- 
colate from  Paris,  and,  despite  all  their  shortcomings, 
attract  crowded  houses  every  night.  There  is  a 
number  of  music-halls  of  the  lowest  type  ;  a  military 


158 


TUNISIA 


band  plays  from  time  to  time  on  the  main  boulevard  ; 
a  deserted  park  is  being  slowly  planted  with  shrubs; 
and  persistent  efforts  are  being  made  to  mould  the 


STREET    CHEESE-SELLER. 


wonderful  old-world  town  upon  the  ordinary  common- 
place  European  pattern. 

It  is  true  that  so  far  the  French  quarter  has  very 
properly  kept  itself  aloof  from  the  old  native  town, 
but  encroachments  have  already  begun,  and  every 


IN   AND  OUT   OF   TUNIS  101 

day  they  become  more  obtrusive.  Lumbering  tram- 
ways traverse  the  native  quarters  in  almost  every 
direction,  rilling  up  the  narrow  streets  and  hustling 
the  stately  Arabs  against  the  walls.  Many  a  lovely 
Arab  mansion  has  had  to  come  down  to  make  room 
for  unnecessary  boulevards,  which  before  long  will 
doubtless  intersect  all  Tunis. 

Even  in  the  French- quarter,  however, there  are  many 
sprightly  scenes  :  stately  camels  strutting  along  super- 
ciliously, with  their  noses  high  in  air ;  diminutive 
donkeys,  not  much  larger  than  a  fine  S.  Bernard  dog, 
laden  with  baskets  of  brilliant  fruit  and  accompanied 
by  distinguished  Orientals,  who  emit  the  most  musical 
of  street-cries  ;  mules  ridden  without  bit  or  bridle  by 
youths  in  shcshias,  who  sit  right  back  almost  upon  the 
animal's  tail  and  guide  him  by  flicking  a  wand  over  his 
ears.  Sometimes  I  have  seen  two  gaunt  wheat-sacks 
walking  along  hand-in-hand,  and,  even  when  I  have 
come  up  to  them,  I  have  scarcely  realized  that  they 
could  contain  human  beings.  At  other  times  I  have 
seen  a  huge  wardrobe  lounging  down  the  street, 
apparently  provided  by  nature  with  a  pair  of  legs. 

Throughout  Tunisia  both  animals  and  men  are  used 
to  carrying  the  most  prodigious  weights.  I  have  seen 
a  man  carry  seven  chairs,  a  Chesterfield  sofa,  a  big 
table,  and  two  small  sideboards,  all  neatly  dovetailed 
together,  on  his  shoulders.  A  minute  donkey  will 
sometimes  be  laden  with  three  great  panniers  of 
oranges,  which  one  would  think  a  heavy  load  for  a 
horse,  and  have  to  carry,  moreover,  a  big,  fat  Arab, 
who  somehow  manages  to  find  room  to  sit  between  the 

M 


162  TUNISIA 

panniers  and  the  donkey's  tail.  Near  Bizerta  I  descried 
what  appeared  to  be  Birnam  Wood  coming  to  Dunsinane, 
but  was  in  reality  an  Arab  horse  struggling  along  under 
a  load  of  olive-branches.  I  have  hitherto  imagined 
that  bearing  olive-branches  was  the  exclusive  preroga- 
tive of  doves  ;  but  surely  the  dove-cotes  of  all  Africa 
could  hardly  furnish  carriers  for  such  a  load.  The 
poor  horse  entirely  disappears  under  it.  One  occasion- 
ally catches  sight  of  a  head,  and  that  is  all. 

The  streets  of  the  whole  town  are  infamously  paved, 
and,  excepting  one  or  two  main  thoroughfares,  scarcely 
lighted  at  all.  And  Tunis,  it  must  be  remembered,  is 
the  show  place  of  the  Regency.  Very  few  travellers 
go  any  further,  and  if  they  did  so  they  would  cer- 
tainly fare  a  great  deal  worse. 

Accommoda-  The  Grand  Hotel  and  Hotel  de  Paris, 
which  used  to  be  under  the  same  administra- 
tion, are  those  most  likely  to  appeal  to  European 
travellers.  The  Grand  is  the  better  furnished  and 
more  pretentious,  but  looks  to  make  a  great  profit 
during  the  short  season,  and  is  decidedly  extortionate 
in  view  of  prices  at  Tunis.  Moreover,  most  important 
of  all,  courtesy  is  lacking,  and  everything  is  offered 
or  rather  yielded  upon  the  "  take  it  or  leave  it " 
principle.  The  Hotel  de  Paris  would  require  a 
large  expenditure  on  furniture  and  decoration  before 
it  could  be  pronounced  altogether  satisfactory  ;  but  the 
landlord  is  the  most  obliging  I  have  met  anywhere, 
and  the  cookery  is  very  fair,  although  the  Marseilles 
fashion  of  deluging  everything  with  onion  and  garlic 
may  alarm  many.  As,  however,  I  spent  several 


163 


IN  AND  OUT  OF   TUNIS  165 

months  there  and  never  had  occasion  for  serious  com- 
plaint, I  feel  that  I  can  cordially  recommend  it.  Of 
the  second  class  inns,  the  Hotel  Eymon,  otherwise 
Gigino,  is  well  spoken  of,  but  I  was  not  taken  by  the 
appearance  or  the  food  when  I  lunched  there. 

Good  food  is  extremely  difficult  to  obtain 
in  Tunis.  The  meat  is  tough  and  taste- 
less beyond  description,  even  when  by  special  effort 
it  has  been  imported  from  Marseilles  ;  and  the  traveller 
must  rely  upon  the  game,  which  is  good  but  not  varied, 
and  the  fruit  and  vegetables,  which  are  excellent. 
Green  peas,  new  potatoes,  and  an  agreeable  wild 
asparagus,  which  sells  at  two  large  bunches  for  three 
half-pence,  are  a  decided  attraction  at  Christmas  ;  and 
the  dates  and  blood  oranges  are  as  good  as  may  be 
found  anywhere.  For  a  long  stay,  I  should  advise 
travellers  to  bring  their  own  servants,  and  take  an 
Arab  house  and  an  Arab  man  for  the  rough  work.  A 
staff  of  Arab  servants  would  be  a  constant  trial  even 
to  people  intimate  with  the  Arab  language  and  customs. 
French  colonial  servants  or  lodgings  are  of  course 
quite  out  of  the  question,  and  Italians,  Maltese,  or 
Levantines  have  serious  drawbacks. 
AnAngucan  Steps  are  being  taken  in  Tunis  to  build  an 
ch'  Anglican  church.  Some  years  ago  a  piece 
of  land  and  an  iron  church  were  provided  by  private 
munificence.  The  church  was  pulled  down  at  a  cost 
of  200  francs  and  sold  for  260  francs  —a  bad  bargain  »' 
but  the  land  went  up  immensely  in  value,  and  fetched 
some  /, 3,000.  It  is  now  hoped  that  the  Government 
may  give  a  site  near  the  British  cemetery,  and  designs 


166  TUNISIA 

are  being  considered  for  the  erection  of  a  stone  church. 
The  next  step  will  be  to  create  a  congregation,  as  at 
present  there  is  only  one  resident  English  family  in  ad- 
dition to  the  Consular  officials  ;  but  tourists  are  numer- 
ous during  the  short  season,  and  the  erection  of  an 
Anglican  church  may  go  far  to  attract  others.  If  the 
scheme  comes  to  anything,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
proper  services  may  be  insisted  upon.  In  the  winter 
of  1897-8  a  German  missionary  officiated  in  broken 
English  at  the  Consulate,  but  his  travesty  of  the 
Anglican  ritual  was  so  offensive  that  I  could  not  endure 
it  for  many  minutes.  Should  there  be  an  appeal  for  funds 
for  an  Anglican  church  at  Tunis,  subscribers  will  do  well 
to  make  sure  in  advance  that  their  money  will  not  be 
diverted  to  the  support  of  a  Protestant  conventicle. 

There  are  always  a  certain  number  of  more 

Beggars. 

or  less  unclothed  Beduin  women,  mostly  of 
the  Swassi  tribe,  running  about  the  streets  of  Tunis 
and  imploring  for  alms.  "  By  the  head  of  thy  wife," 
they  exclaim  to  an  obviously  newly-married  man, 
"  give  me  sous.  By  the  head  of  madama,  give,  I  say. 
By  thy  head,  give  ."  They  never  seem  to 

tire  of  their  chorus,  but  will  run  for  miles  by  the  side 
of  a  carriage  or  dance  before  a  traveller,  carefully  im- 
peding his  way  as  he  walks  through  the  narrow  streets 
of  the  Arab  quarter.  They  pluck  at  his  clothes,  like 
greedy  hens  attacking  a  feed  of  corn,  and  spread  their 
glistening  teeth  in  front  of  his  face,  or  display  a  bundle 
of  mouldy  babies  under  his  nose.  But  they  are 
always  boundlessly  good-natured,  and  keep  their 
patience  though  they  be  tantalized  by  the  hour.  From 


IN   AND  OUT   OF   TUNIS  169 

a  bird  of  passage  they  will  never  take  "No"  for  an 
answer,  but  when  they  come  to  know  you  and  to  under- 
stand that  you  are  generally  good  for  a  few  coppers, 
they  may  be  relied  upon  for  the  finest  manners  in  the 
world.  You  have  but  to  appeal  to  them  as  old  friends, 
telling  them  that  you  are  not  in  a  generous  mood  to-day, 
but  to-morrow  you  will  see  what  you  can  do,  and  they 
instantly  scamper  off  in  search  of  another  victim.  I 
was  never  tempted  to  give  to  beggars  until  I  came  to 
Tunis,  but  there  was  no  resisting  the  eloquence  of 
these  appeals,  and  it  soon  became  quite  an  expensive 
undertaking  to  walk  the  length  of  the  street.  If,  how- 

o  o 

ever,  I  encountered  any  of  my  most  particular  satel- 
lites, they  would  always  act  as  a  bodyguard  and  keep 
their  rivals  at  a  distance. 

Only  once  was  I  seriously  annoyed  by  beggars.  I 
had  bought  some  pieces  of  pottery  from  children  at 
Carthage,  and  when  the  bargain  was  concluded  they 
danced  around  me  demanding  other  coppers  as  a 
present.  Finding  me  obdurate,  they  trod  on  my  heels 
and  stood  in  my  way,  inviting  me  to  hit  them  with  my 
stick  if  I  dared.  Pushes  and  threats  were  of  no  use 
whatever,  and  they  pointed  to  some  evil-looking  huts, 
from  which  they  said  their  relatives  would  come  out 
and  defend  them.  It  was  looking  as  if  there  would 

o 

soon  be  a  serious  row,  when  we  encountered  a  stalwart 
Arab  coming  along  the  path.  I  was  curious  to  see 
whether  he  would  prove  a  friend  or  a  foe,  or  whether 
he  would  pass  by  on  the  other  side.  To  my  surprise 
and  delight,  he  came  to  my  rescue  at  once,  without 
being  asked ;  and  I  could  hear  him  upbraiding  the 


170  TUNISIA 

children  for  their  shamelessness  with  great  vehemence 
until  I  passed  out  of  hearing. 

„  The  Bey  having  established  his  court,  such 

Marsa.  3 

as  it  is,  at  the  village  of  Marsa,  some  twelve 
miles  out  of  Tunis,  the  well-to-do  families  of  the  town 
and  the  various  diplomatic  representatives  have  settled 
there,  at  any  rate  during  the  hot  weather.  It  is  con- 
nected with  Tunis  by  a  rickety  light  railway,  originally 
belonging  to  an  English  company,  but  until  quite  lately 
in  the  hands  of  the  Italians,  who  have  now  been  elicit- 
ing many  protests  in  their  own  country  by  selling  it  to 
the  French.  No  doubt  if  Tunis  ever  becomes  a  pros- 
perous and  popular  resort,  Marsa  will  develop  into  a 
kind  of  superior  suburb.  At  present  it  affords  a  plea- 
sant excursion,  which  may  be  combined  with  a  visit  to 
Carthage  and  a  picnic  at  Sidi-bu-said  (our  Lord  the 
Father  of  Happiness),  a  delightfully  picturesque  little 
white  village  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  supposed,  according 
to  one  tradition,  to  be  dedicated  to  S.  Louis,  in  remem- 
brance of  his  having  turned  Mussulman  just  before  his 
death.  I  know  few  more  pleasing  views  than  that 
from  this  hill,  and  no  one  who  visits  Tunis  should  allow 
himself  to  be  persuaded  not  to  go  thither  on  the  first 
fine  day. 

Apart    even    from    sympathies    with    the 

enemies  of  Rome,  a  visit  to  Carthage  is  laden 
with  melancholy.  Modern  Carthage  consists  of  little 
more  than  a  rude  mound,  surrounded  by  Cardinal 
Lavigerie's  garish,  white-washed  cathedral,  recalling 
a  glorified  Brixton  villa,  a  few  pothouses,  overlooking 
a  splendid  view,  and  the  museum,  \vhere  some 


171 


17:! 


IN   AND  OUT   OF   TUNIS 


175 


trumpery  finds  are  on  view.  Practically  the  whole  of 
Carthage  is  still  underground.  Cardinal  Lavigerie 
bought  up  the  land  which  covers  it,  with  the  contents 
of  his  missionary  boxes ;  but  he  and  his  successors, 
while  rigorously  warning  off  other  investigators,  have 
themselves  done  little  more  than  scrape  the  ground. 
A  small  band  of  monks,  clad  in  a  ridiculous  combina- 
tion of  fezzes  and  white  flannel,  may  be  seen  shovel- 


3£t'' 

-'-  'v 


ling  earth  about  in  a  perfunctory  way.  If  only  the 
French  authorities  had  taken  over  the  work  at  the 
beginning  of  the  occupation,  the  whole  of  Carthage, 
with  all  her  archaeological  and  historical  riches,  might 
have  been  revealed  long  ago. 

Serious  excavation   would  doubtless   reveal  much  of 
historical,  but  nothing  of  artistic  value,  as  Carthaginian 


I76  TUNISIA 

art  was  essentially  rude  and  barbarous,  while  that 
of  the  Romans  there  possessed  the  rococo  character 
which  we  associate  with  Louis  XV.  The  most  in- 
teresting things  in  the  museum  are  those  which 
have  been  found  in  tombs.  It  was  originally  the  cus- 
tom among  barbarians  to  bury  with  a  man  all  the 
things  he  was  considered  likely  to  require  in  the  next 
world — lamps  to  light  him  on  his  path,  plenty  of  money, 
and  enormous  provisions  of  food,  generally  the  legs  of 
antelopes,  and  whatever  else  had  been  among  his 
favourite  delicacies, — so  that  he  might  find  every 
creature  comfort  at  the  moment  of  his  resurrection. 
Above  all,  it  was  necessary  to  bury  his  war-horse  and 
his  wife  with  him,  that  he  might  not  lack  those  neces- 
saries. Later  on,  particularly  when  Christianity  had 
spread  its  influence,  it  became  usual  to  bury,  instead 
of  a  wife,  a  small  Tanagra  figure  as  an  emblem. 

The  museum  contains  one  or  two  large  statues  in 
good  preservation  but  of  small  artistic  value,  a  certain 
number  of  seals,  masks,  tear- bottles,  grotesque  figures, 
and  a  variety  of  coins,  Vandal,  Punic,  Roman,  Byzan- 
tine, etc.  The  collection  of  Christian  lamps  is  prob- 
ably the  best  in  the  world,  and  many  of  the  others  are 
of  interest,  Ashtaroth,  the  Phoenician  goddess,  is  in 
great  evidence  both  on  coins  and  lamps.  The  favour- 
ite Roman  emblem  seems  to  have  been  a  Lybian  lion 
with  a  palm  tree  growing  out  of  his  back.  The  chief 
Christian  emblems  are  the  fish,  the  stag,  and  the  lamb, 
the  stag  being  often  represented  drinking  out  of  a 
chalice.  Various  charms  and  talismans  have  also  been 
unearthed,  and  the  following  Punic  inscription,  found 


A    TUNIC    TOM  It. 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  TUNIS  179 

on  a  crumbling  parchment  inside  a  tomb,  is  not  with- 
out interest :  "  I  adjure  thee,  thou  spirit  of  a  man 
who  died  prematurely,  whoever  thou  niayest  be,  by 
the  powerful  names  of  Codbaal,  Bathbaal,  Authogerota- 
baal,  and  Basythotisa,  that  thou  keep  fast  in  this  vase 
the  images  and  the  horses  whose  names  I  now  give 
thee." 

In  some  of  the  tombs  long  conduits  have  been  dis- 
covered, by  which  tears  and  other  offerings,  poured  in 
at  the  surface  of  the  soil,  might  be  expected  to  reach 
the  body  of  the  deceased.  These  it  has  been  found 
impossible  to  preserve,  but  I  have  seen  photographs  of 
them  taken  at  the  moment  of  excavation. 

The  configuration  of  the  soil  has  probably  altered  a 
great  deal  since  Carthaginian  times,  and  authorities  are 
by  no  means  agreed  as  to  the  position  of  the  various 
sites.  The  famous  cisterns  have  been  restored  so 
many  times  that  it  is  now  practically  impossible  to 
trace  any  Carthaginian  workmanship  about  them. 
The  ports  of  Carthage  were  evidently  much  larger 
than  they  are  now,  for  the  land  has  been  constantly 
encroaching  upon  the  sea.  In  process  of  time  it  will 
probably  fill  up  the  whole  of  the  foetid  lake.  It  would 
therefore  be  futile  to  attempt  to  excavate  underneath 
this  lake,  which  has  been  there  from  time  immemorial 
and  can  only  contain  the  various  things  which  may 
have  been  dropped  into  it. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  French  should  consider 
that  the  erection  of  a  hideous  cathedral  absolves  them 
from  the  necessity  of  keeping  up  the  chapel  of  S. 
Louis.  It  is  no  doubt  too  much  to  expect  modern 


iSo  TUNISIA 

Frenchmen  to  care  much  for  S.  Louis,  but  it  would  be 
better  to  remove  the  chapel  altogether  than  to  leave  it 
in  its  present  indecent  condition,  with  walls  peeling  off 
and  grass  growing  among  the  pavestones. 

No  visitor  to  modern  Carthage  goes  there  expect- 
ing to  see  very  much,  but  there  is  a  melancholy  inte- 
rest in  wandering  among  the  ruins  and  carrying  off 
pieces  of  mosaic  or  Carthaginian  bones,  and  contem- 
plating the  completeness  of  the  destruction  of  the  ill- 
fated  city. 

As  if  the  work  of  the  Romans  had  not  been 
sufficiently  thorough,  it  would  seem  that  every  one  of 
their  successors  had  set  himself  to  continue  the  de- 
struction of  Carthage.  It  has  become,  as  time  went 
on,  a  quarry  for  the  whole  world,  and  even  the  utter- 
most of  its  foundations  have  been  dispersed.  The 
native  quarters  of  Tunis  have  for  the  most  part  been 
constructed  out  of  the  ruins  of  Carthage,  the  cathedral 
of  Pisa  and  many  of  the  palaces  and  churches  of 
Genoa  were  made  with  Punic  marbles.  A  few  of 
the  commoner  lamps  and  cameos  and  other  antiquities 
may  be  bought  from  the  monk  who  keeps  the  door 
of  the  museum,  but  his  prices  are  so  extravagant 
and  his  collection  is  so  poor  that  he  offers  no  very 
serious  temptation.  From  time  to  time  an  object  of 
interest  may  be  purchased  for  a  few  pence  from  the 
Beduin  children  of  the  neighbourhood,  but  they  are 
now  so  carefully  watched  by  the  authorities  that  any- 
thing of  value  is  rarely  found  in  their  hands. 

And  yet  Carthage  may  not  altogether  be  despised, 
for  she  is  alive  with  memories.     We  may  pluck  corn- 


181 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  TUNIS  183 

flowers,  whose  progenitors  were  trodden  by  Dido  or 
Hannibal  ;  we  may  dream  away  an  afternoon  upon 
the  rocks,  where  the  lidless  eyes  of  Regulus  were 
exposed  to  the  fierce  rays  of  an  African  sun ;  we 
stumble  over  a  stone — perhaps  it  shelters  the  last 
sleeping-place  of  the  Vandal  Thrasamund.  The  moral 
of  Carthage,  the  memory  which  lingers  longest  with 
us,  is  afforded  by  the  layer  of  grim  ashes  which  we 
discover  everywhere  a  few  inches  below  the  surface. 
What  a  monument  to  the  barbarism  of  Rome  ;  what 
a  sermon  upon  the  vanity  of  human  glory.  Surely 
none  may  be  so  callous  as  to  refuse  the  tribute  of  a 
sigh. 


Chapter    VII 
THE   INSIDE  OF   THE   CUP  AND  THE   PLATTER 

The  Interior — Accommodation  —  Fonduks — Vermin—  Fantasias — 
Art — Bicycles — An  Itinerary — Tunis  to  Susa — Stisa — Susa  to 
Kairwan —  Kairwan —  Sabra — Susa  to  Sfax — El  Jem — Sfax  — 
Fortifications — Gabes — A  Sandstorm —Wells— Jerba— Sbeitla — 
Thala — El  Kef — Beja — The  Mejerda — Dugga — Bizerta. 

THE  more   I   have  travelled  about    Tunisia 

The  Interior. 

the  more  impatient  I  have  grown  at  the 
presence  of  the  French.  It  is  not  mere  patriotism 
which  makes  me  say  that  an  English  occupation 
would  have  been  a  very  different  matter.  No  doubt 
we  could  not  have  avoided  rubbing  off  much  of  the 
bloom  of  the  Orient,  but  we  should  at  least  have 
set  up  the  full  polish  of  civilization  in  its  place.  The 
French  have  not  done  this,  and  it  is  only  when  we 
contrive  to  escape  entirely  from  their  contamination 
that  we  realize  what  a  paradise  they  have  spoiled. 
The  East  is  the  happy  hunting  ground  of  the  colourist 
and  ministers  to  the  lust  of  the  eyes  more  than  to 
any  other  sense.  The  silvery  whiteness  of  the  houses, 
the  exquisitely  soft  tints  of  the  men's  raiment,  the 
harmonies  of  the  native  handicrafts,  and  the  brilliancy 
of  the  contrasts  at  every  street  corner  are  a  constant 
delight.  It  is  an  inexpressible  relief,  after  being 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER    185 

hustled   in  European  towns,  to  mix  with  men  whose 
every  instinct    is  courteous    and   whose  calm   dignity 
it  seems  impossible  to  ruffle. 
Accommo-        1  ne   mns   m  tne  country  districts,  where 

dation.       .1  ...... 

there  are  any,  are  exceedingly  primitive. 
They  are  usually  kept  by  some  Levantine  who  has  no 
notions  of  cookery  or  comfort,  or  by  some  French 
colonist  who  inflates  his  bill  with  the  least  possible 
expenditure  of  money  and  politeness.  Perhaps  the 
inn  which  was  at  once  the  most  pretentious  and  the 
most  impossible  in  the  interior,  was  the  Hotel  Splendide 
at  Kairwan.  After  enduring  it  for  as  many  hours 
as  I  could,  I  removed  to  the  Grand  Hotel,  which 
proved  simple  but  well  managed,  and  certainly  offered 
far  better  accommodation  than  any  other  I  found  in 
my  travels  after  leaving  Tunis.  At  Susa  the  Hotel 
de  France  was  primitive  but  tolerable.  At  Sfax 
there  was  merely  a  choice  of  pothouses,  but  little 
cause  for  complaint  if  no  great  expectations  were 
entertained. 

At  Gabes  I  was  made  very  welcome  and  treated 
very  kindly  in  the  Hotel  des  Voyageurs,  which  is 
kept  by  a  very  amiable  FVench  woman,  who  possesses 
the  rudiments  of  meridional  cookery  and  three  or 
four  make-shift  bedrooms  opening  out  upon  an 
Arab  courtyard.  The  entrance  is  through  a 
dingy  little  shop,  which  serves  as  the  restaurant, 
and  contains  an  assortment  of  venerable  groceries 
and  hair  washes  for  the  temptation  of  the  colony. 
There  is  a  more  pretentious  hostelry  over  the  way, 
but  those  who  ventured  there  told  me  that  they 


i86 


TUNISIA 


had  good  reason  for  repentance.  There  is  also 
an  inn  at  Gafsa  on  much  the  same  lines ;  but 
travellers  who  persevere  further  into  the  interior 
must  trust  to  the  grudging  hospitality  of  the  French 
authorities,  or  be  glad  to  find  a  shelter  within  four 
bare  walls,  unless  they  have  been  prudent  enough 
to  provide  themselves  with  tents  and  other  parapher- 
nalia of  exploration. 


A   FONDUK. 


Fonduks. 


The  place  of  resort  for  travelling  natives 
everywhere  in  North  Africa  is  the  Fonduk, 
which  consists  of  a  number  of  rough  rooms,  provided 
with  little  or  no  furniture  and  affording  little  more 
than  shelter  to  the  wanderer.  In  the  centre  is  a  large 
courtyard,  where  a  great  many  camels  and  a  sprink- 
ling of  other  animals  are  congregated.  It  is  the 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER    187 

general  resort  of  all  countrymen  who  have  come 
to  the  town  for  the  exchange  of  impressions  and 
gossip.  Whole  caravans  may  sometimes  be  seen 
assembled  there,  and  the  camel-drivers  are  always 
ready  to  afford  any  information  which  may  be  sought. 
The  owner  of  the  Fonduk  keeps  the  keys  of  all  the 
rooms,  and  cases  of  loss  or  robbery  are  practically 
unknown  there. 

Nearly    every   writer    of  books    of  travel 

Vermin.  ' 

revenges  himself  for  what  he  has  suffered 
from  the  native  vermin  by  wearying  and  disgusting 
his  readers  with  indelicate  details.  I  feel,  therefore, 
that  the  critics  would  for  once  find  something  wanting 
in  my  book  if  I  did  not  gratify  them  with  some  re- 
ference to  this  subject.  I  do  not,  however,  propose 
to  give  them  the  benefit  of  my  personal  experiences, 
as  I  have  always  found  insect-powder  a  sufficient  pro- 
phylactic. It  must,  however,  be  mentioned  for  the 
benefit  of  intending  travellers  that  all  possible 
precautions  are  advisable.  The  British  Vice-Consul 
at  Susa  told  me  that  at  one  place  in  the  interior 
the  fleas  had  been  so  numerous  that  they  had 
actually  carried  off  his  mattress  from  under  him  and 
deposited  it  upon  the  floor.  But  this  I  suspect  must 
have  been  a  consular  report,  if  not  an  exaggeration. 
The  precaution  taken  by  Arabs  against  vermin  is  to 
place  an  oil  night-light  under  the  bed,  and  I  am 
assured  that  this  is  an  infallible  attraction.  A  French- 
man who  adopted  this  plan  found  that  no  less  than 
eighty  fleas  had  fallen  victims  in  the  course  of  one 
night. 


188 


TUNISIA 


Fantasias. 


Whenever  the  occasion  presents  itself,  a  fan- 
tasia should  be  witnessed.  The  horses  have 
the  richest  saddles  of  red  velvet,  embroidered  with  silver 
or  gold,  and,  over  their  hind  legs,  a  kind  of  long  silk 
petticoat  with  copper  sleigh-bells.  The  rider  wears  a 
sugar-loaf  cap  with  ostrich  feathers,  a  waistcoat  and  vest 
of  yellow  brocaded  silk,  and  the  brightest  possible  red 


A   COOK-SHOP    IN    TUNIS. 
(I'liotograph  by  MRS.  VIVIAN.) 

leather  boots.  Every  kind  of  evolution  is  executed, 
from  quadrilles  to  tent-pegging  and  picking  up  hand- 
kerchiefs, while  guns  are  fired  in  the  air  with  much 
unnecessary  noise.  A  favourite  performance  is  that 
of  carrying  off  a  bride,  while  the  simulation  of  the 
death  of  a  horse  and  the  combat  between  a  horse- 
man and  a  foot  soldier  are  also  very  interesting. 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER    189 

An  excellent   fantasia  was  executed  at  Susa  on   the 
occasion  of  the  last  spring  races. 

Arab  pictorial  art  is  delightful.  It  recalls 
children's  drawings  done  by  a  first-class 
artist — say  highly-coloured  versions  of  Edward  Lear's 
nonsense  books.  On  the  wall  of  a  private  house  I 
saw  a  delightfully  fantastic  painting  of  an  eagle 
carrying  off  a  despondent  donkey,  whose  tongue 
lolled  out  of  his  mouth  and  whose  eye  seemed  to  be 
inquiring  whether  the  whole  thing  were  not  a  huge 
joke.  Then  there  was  a  very  fat  Arab  on  a  tiny 


ARAB    ART. 


little  horse,  proceeding  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  an 
hour  and  evidently  quite  confident  of  being  able 
to  catch  the  exceedingly  fleet  ostrich  he  was  chasing. 
There  was  also  a  mosque  perched  upon  the  top 
of  a  hill  no  larger  than  itself,  and  the  hill  was  pierced 
by  a  tunnel,  where  a  toy  train  was  about  to  enter. 
The  Arabs  are  very  fond  of  making  pictures  of  trains 
in  all  sorts  of  fanciful  colours,  and  I  have  also  seen 
wonderful  representations  of  bicycles  and  French 
soldiers  painted  up  on  the  walls  of  wayside  coffee- 
houses. 


TUNISIA 


Bicycles. 


The  Arabs  are  all  very  fond  of  bicycles, 
which  they  call  "  the  chariots  of  the  winds." 
Riders  in  Tunisia  always  find  that  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  a  village  turns  out  to  admire  them.  The 
great  attraction  is  that  bicycles  "  don't  eat  barley," 
and  nearly  every  Arab  would  have  one  if  he  could 
buy  it  as  cheaply  as  a  horse,  say  for  £/(.  or 


A   WAYSIDE   TAVERN. 
(Fhotograf/i  l>y  MRS.  VIVIAN.) 


An  Itinerary. 


Of  the   motor-car   he   has  a  superstitious  dread,  and 
dubs  it  "  the  daughter  of  the  devil." 

Travellers  who  intend  to  pursue  their 
investigations  beyond  the  town  of  Tunis 
will  be  glad  of  an  itinerary,  and  I  cannot  do  better 
than  reproduce  the  one  which  I  mapped  out  with 
the  advice  of  the  Residency,  though  in  the  event 
I  was  not  encouraged  to  see  it  through. 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER    193 

Leave    Tunis    by    the   afternoon    train     and    reach 

Susa  at  9.50  p.m.     You   can  see  all  there  is  to  be 

seen  at  Susa  in  the  course  of  the  next  morning,  and, 

leaving  at   12.18  p.m.,  you  reach  Kairwan  at   2  40.      I 

spent  a  week  there,  but  a  night  or  two  will  suffice  for 

most  people.      If  you  can  secure  a  decent  carriage,  you 

may  drive  on  to  El- Jem  and  Sfax,  but  it  will  probably 

be    preferable    to    return    to    Susa    and    take     your 

carriage   there.      If  you  have  time   to   spare  at  Sfax, 

may  you  make  an  excursion  to  the  Kerkenna  Islands 

and  inspect  the  fisheries.     At   Sfax  take  the    Italian 

boat    for    Gabes,    where    a   week    may    be    pleasantly 

passed.       Thence,    if  you   are   prepared  to    rough   it, 

may   you   proceed   to   the    Matmata  plateau,    Dwirat, 

Tatawin,  and  as  far  south  as  the  military  authorities 

will    permit.       Return    by    Mednin,    Zarzis,    and    the 

island  of  Jerba  to  Gabes.      Thence,  if  the  Salt  Lake 

is  fordable,  to  Tozer  and  Nefta,  whence  you  may  make 

your  way  to   the  Algerian  railway  by  Gafsa,   Feriana, 

Kasserin,    Sbeitla,    Thala,    Maktar,   the  battlefield    of 

Zama,  and  El- Kef.      From  the  railway  you  may  make 

excursions  to    Beja  and   the  valley   of    the   Mejerda, 

to   Tebursuk    and   the    ruins  of    Dugga,    before    you 

return.         With     shorter      excursions     to     Zaghwan, 

Hammamet  and   Nabeul,  as  well   as    to    Bizerta    and 

the  forests  of  the   Mogods,  you  will  have  obtained  a 

fairly  exhaustive  impression  of  the  whole  of  Tunisia. 

Tunis  to         The  narrow-gauge  railway  from  Tunis  to 

Susa   is   perhaps   smoother  and    more    com- 

ortable  than  the  others  in  the  Regency  ;  but   time   is 

evidently  of  very  small  moment,  for  the  stoppages  at 

o 


194 


TUNISIA 


wayside  huts  are  long  and  frequent.  Still,  this  is  no 
great  grievance,  for  the  scenery  is  agreeable.  The 
soil  would  appear  to  be  poor,  but  it  gladdens  the  eye 
with  a  rich  carpet  of  wild  flowers.  The  line  is 
bordered  at  intervals  with  forests  of  laburnum,  tufts 
of  yellow  ranunculus,  giant  orange  hemlocks,  brilliant 
broom,  and  delicate  mauve  asphodels,  while  the 


SUSA  :     THE   TRAMWAY   TERMINUS    FOR    KAIRWAN. 
{Photograph  by  MRS.  VIVIAN.) 

meadows  are  a  kaleidoscope  of  colours,  and  young 
cornfields,  bejewelled  with  fiery  poppies,  stretch 
away  towards  mysterious  hills  dotted  with  glistening 
villages.  To  the  right  is  a  well-kept  road,  where 
processions  of  disdainful  camels  and  Liliputian 
donkeys  lounge  in  long  files  ;  to  the  left,  a  turgid 
green  sea,  where  shoals  of  small  boats  bob  among 
the  breakers. 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER    197 
Susa  is  a  dismal  little  port,  which  is  only 

Susa. 

visited  as  a  stepping-stone  for  Kairwan. 
The  only  impressions  Susa  has  left  on  my  memory 
are  of  a  long  white  wall  with  an  outer  boulevard 
beside  an  unsavoury  sea,  and  of  a  raging,  dusty  wind, 
said  to  be  almost  chronic. 

Susa  to  I  was  probably  one  of  the  last  travellers 
to  drive  to  Kairwan.  There  is  an  horse 
tramway,  which  covers  the  distance  of  forty  miles  in 
five  or  six  hours ;  but  it  is  so  inconveniently  crowded 
that  most  people  prefer  to  go  by  carriage,  which, 
with  three  fast  horses,  covers  the  ground  nearly  as 
fast.  The  ruts  and  wind  were  vastly  disagreeable, 
but  the  panorama  over  the  endless  moor,  which 
stretched  away  in  every  direction  like  an  ocean  of 
purple  and  green,  was  unique.  Black  gnrbis  and 
white  flocks  varied  the  landscape,  and  the  silhouettes 
of  gaunt  camels  on  the  horizon  added  an  element  of 
fantasy.  The  air  of  Kairwan  is  exhilarating,  and  I 
can  well  believe  that  it  is  even  healthier  than  that  ol 
Tunis.  As  the  European  quarter  is  outside  the  walls, 
we  may  hope  with  confidence  that  the  Holy  City  will 
long  retain  her  old  distinctive  charm,  and  that  the 
mania  for  building  boulevards  and  imposing  a  dread- 
ful modern  symmetry  will  not  accompany  the  new 
railway  from  Tunis. 

After  spending  a  week   in   the   Holy  City, 

Kairw^n.  .  .  J 

I  came  away  with  a  certain  feeling  of  dis- 
enchantment. The  chief  impression  is  of  poverty 
and  squalor.  The  bright,  particular  vestments  which 
gladden  every  street  in  Tunis  are  replaced  in  Kairwan 


198  TUNISIA 

by  dingy  rags,  or,  in  the  case  of  the  better-to-do,  by 
garments  of  dull  brown,  while  the  women  are  shrouded 
from  head  to  foot  in  black  wool.  The  perennial 
gaiety  of  Tunis  is  absent.  Men  stalk  silently  through 
the  narrow  streets,  and,  even  when  they  haggle  in  the 
bazaars,  there  is  always  a  note  of  irritation  in  their 
strident  voices.  Had  I  not  been  told  so  often  that 
all  Tunisia  is  satisfied  with  the  present  dispensation, 
I  should  have  concluded  that  the  Holy  City  was  in 
mourning  for  the  Rumi  occupation. 

In  one  sense  the  compulsory  opening  of  the  mosques 
has  produced  a  greater  tolerance  of  Christians,  who  may 
go  anywhere  in  the  town  by  night  or  day  without  en- 
countering any  expression  of  hostility.  But  who  can 
say  how  far  the  hostility  may  not  lurk  beneath  the  sur- 
face ?  At  most  of  the  mosques  I  met  with  courtesy, 
though  scarcely  cordiality ;  while  at  the  famous 
Mosque  of  the  Barber,  outside  the  walls,  I  was  clearly 
shown  that  my  presence  was  unwelcome.  First  a 
demand  was  made  that  I  should  take  off  my  boots, 
and  it  was  only  when  the  guide  had  unblushingly 
alleged  sore  feet  that  I  was  grudgingly  admitted, 
though  the  courtyard  was  provided  with  planks  for 
visitors,  and  no  such  requirement  had  ever  been  made 
in  any  other  mosque  in  Kairvvan  or  Stambiil.  After 
this  everything  was  exhibited  with  sulky  reluctance 
and  much  unnecessary  expostulation  lest  I  should 
intrude  an  inch  too  far.  This  and  the  Great  Mosque 
have  fine  courtyards,  some  exquisite  tiles,  and  wood- 
work of  considerable  antiquity ;  but  otherwise  the 
traveller  might  readily  acquiesce  in  the  closing  of  the 


1'J'J 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   203 

mosques  of  Kairwan  equally  with  those  of  the 
rest  of  Tunisia.  At  Kairwan  they  are  plain,  low 
buildings,  crowded  with  coarse  columns  ;  they  have 
no  galleries,  rich  carpets,  or  Koranic  shields,  as  at 
Stambul,  and  the  general  impression  is  quite  the 
reverse  of  magnificent. 

Beside  the  mosques  and  the  weekly  performance  of 
the  Aissawas  there  is  positively  nothing  to  attract  the 
traveller  to  Kairwan.  Had  the  railway  been  open,  I 
should  certainly  not  have  remained  so  long.  But,  as 
it  was,  I  found  Kairwan,  like  Mecca  or  Siberia  or  the 
camp  of  the  Khalifa,  far  easier  to  reach  than  to  leave. 
The  tramway  is  not  only  uncomfortable,  but  it  is  so 
inadequate  in  its  accommodation  that  places  cannot 
easily  be  secured,  and  there  is  no  provision  for  hiring 
carriages.  The  only  solace  during  enforced  lin^eriiiLT 

O  J  O  *>  O 

at  Kairwan  was  to  wander  about  in  search  of  quaint 
corners  and  street  scenes.  Here  the  little  Mosque  of  the 
Three  Doors,  carved  with  ever  dainty  Arabic  characters 
over  the  whole  front  ;  there  a  piteous  group  of  camels 
being  smeared  all  over  with  tar,  and  lifting  up  a  mew- 
like  complaint  the  while  ;  yonder  a  madman,  with  a 
reputation  for  sanctity,  gibbering  and  pointing  a 
foolish  finger  at  those  who  passed  ;  again,  a  pretty 
market,  freshly  green,  with  crowds  of  sack-like  pur- 
chasers grovelling  on  all  fours  about  the  various 
wares  spread  out  upon  the  ground  ;  and  at  every  turn 
a  row  of  butchers'  booths,  where  impassive  vendors 
plied  esparto-whisks  in  a  vain  endeavour  to  chase 
myriads  of  (lies  from  the  array  of  unappetizing  meat. 
This  meat  is  always  hung  well  outside  the  booths,  and 


204  TUNISIA 

wayfarers  must  be  wary  to  avoid  frequent  collision 
with  it.  It  costs  but  2\d.  the  lb.,  and  is  as  unpalat- 
able as  it  is  throughout  the  Regency. 

Perhaps  the  most  amusing  sight  at  Kairwan  was 
that  of  the  local  aristocracy — the  wives  of  the  contro- 
leurs  and  other  officials— clad  in  French  provincial 
fashions  of  bygone  years,  assembled  in  a  sandy  public 
place  where  several  roads  meet,  attempting  to  play 
croquet  with  tiny  balls  and  prodigious  hoops  for  the 
edification  of  countless  ragged  urchins.  What  a  sign- 
manual  of  European  civilization  ! 

In  a  great  sunburnt  plain  about  a  mile  to 

Sabra. 

the  south  of  Kairwan  I  made  a  pilgrimage 
to  a  great  solitary  stone,  which  has  a  romantic  his- 
tory, and  may  be  regarded  as  a  melancholy  emblem 
of  the  present  position  of  Islam.  "  It  is  merabut,  a 
holy  thing,"  said  the  Arab  who  accompanied  me,  as 
he  bent  his  head  in  homage  to  the  sanctity  of  the 
relic.  It  is  the  last  survivor  of  the  great  city  of 
Sabra,  which  in  the  loth  century  was  the  equal,  in 
size  as  well  as  in  sanctity,  of  Kairwan  herself.  Sabra 
contained  no  less  than  three  thousand  baths  attached 
to  private  houses,  besides  a  goodly  number  of  public 
bathing  establishments  ;  she  possessed  five  gates,  at 
the  entrance  of  each  one  of  which  dues  to  the  value 
of  over  ^400  were  levied  every  day.  She  was  sur- 
named  El-Mansoura,  the  victorious ;  but  this  name 
availed  her  little,  for  by  the  middle  of  the  i2th 
century  she  was  uninhabited,  and  now,  but  for  this 
one  remaining  stone,  her  very  site  would  be  disputed. 
The  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  town  has  been  carried 


KAIRWAN  :     MIIIKAIi    OK    THK    liKKAT    MO-;c%.TT. 


207 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   209 

away  for  building  purposes  in  every  direction,  many 
of  the  pillars  having  been  appropriated  for  the 
mosques  of  Kairwan.  The  legend,  which  explains 
the  sparing  of  this  remnant,  is  that  the  despoilers, 
finding  it  too  heavy  to  carry  off  entire,  began  to  saw 
it,  whereupon  it  emitted  a  fearful  groan,  and  blood 
began  to  trickle  from  its  wound.  This  was  a  clear 
proof  of  the  sanctity  of  the  stone  and  the  desire  of 


SAHKA. 
(I1  holograph  by  Mi;-..  VIVIAN.) 


the  immortals  that  it  should  not  be  removed  ;   so  here 

it   remains,   with    its   great   blood-stained   gash   in    the 

variegated   marble,  waiting   for   the   day   when    Islam 

shall   triumph   once   more,   and    Sabra,   the   victorious, 

may  be  built  again  with  all  her  ancient  splendour. 

susato         The  plain  near  Susa  is  remarkable   for  the 

Sfax>      greatest  display  of  wild  Iknvcrs    I    have  ever 

beheld.      They    may   for   the   most   part    be   classified 


210 


TUNISIA 


as  weeds,  but  that  does  not  detract  from  their  pro- 
fusion of  colouring  or  the  luxury  of  their  scents. 
Here  is  an  acre  of  dazzling  poppies  ;  there  an  hectare 
of  tiny  blossoms  of  the  deepest  blue,  recalling  the 
^igean  at  noontide  ;  yonder,  an  endless  expanse  of 
gold-red  marigolds  shimmering  away  to  the  horizon  ; 
and  on  all  hands  patches  of  wild  mignonette  with  a 


1 


KI.-JKM    AMPHITHEATRE. 


honeyed  perfume,  and  strange  purple  thistles  sweeter 
than  triple  heliotrope.  Villages  are  few  and  far  be- 
tween, and  the  austerity  of  their  windowless  walls  is 
almost  forbidding. 

The  half-way  stopping-place  is  at  El-Jem, 
whose  amphitheatre  comes  next  to  the  Coli- 
seum in  size,  and  is  superior  to  it  in  preservation.      It 


El-Jem. 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   211 

describes  a  vast  ellipse,  over  160  yards  across  ;  but 
its  chief  use  at  present  seems  to  be  as  a  receptacle  for 
all  the  garbage  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  no  attempt 
has  been  made  to  render  the  exploration  of  its  galleries 
either  safe  or  agreeable,  nor  is  there  anything  to  pre- 
vent the  Arabs  from  carrying  away  stones  for  building 
material,  as  they  have  been  accustomed  to  do  for 
generations.  The  schoolmaster  is  bound  to  put  up 
travellers,  who  may  rely  on  monastic  accommodation 
and  good  plain  fare  at  hotel  prices. 

The  journey  on  is  through  an  even  drearier  plain 
until  the  approach  to  Sfax  and  its  seven  thousand 
gardens.  For  my  part,  if  I  were  advising  a  friend 
of  mine,  I  would  bid  him  buy  photographs  of 
El-Jem  Amphitheatre  in  Tunis,  and  proceed  from 
Tunis  to  Sfax  (if,  indeed,  he  must  go  there)  by  boat. 
By  the  time  I  had  reached  Sfax,  I  had 

Sfax.  J 

come  reluctantly  to  the  conclusion  that, 
under  present  conditions,  travel  in  the  interior  is 
almost  out  of  the  question.  Apart  from  the  trouble 
of  buying  horses,  tents,  provisions,  and  other  con- 
comitants of  exploration,  it  would  not  be  agreeable  to 
stray  far  from  our  consulates  under  the  evil  eye  of 
suspicious  officials,  who  might  at  any  time  be  driven 
to  arbitrary  action  through  excess  of  zeal.  It  would 
be  so  easy  to  arrest  an  inconvenient  wanderer  on  a 
pretext  of  espionage,  and  a  tardy  release  would  be 
but  imperfect  redress.  But  I  do  not  hesitate  to  re- 
commend the  journey  along  the  coast,  which  otters  a 
series  of  fascinating  scenes  at  the  cost  ot  little  dis- 

o 

comfort. 


212 


TUNISIA 


Sfax  pleased  me  vastly.  It  is  not  alluring  from 
the  sea,  presenting  only  an  array  of  tawdry  Euro- 
pean houses  straggling  over  a  sandy  waste.  But 
the  old  Arab  town,  with  its  jagged  Saracen  wall,  its 
narrow  lanes,  through  none  of  which  a  carriage  can 
pass,  its  varied  street  scenes,  its  fantastic  balconies, 


:      MARKET   OUTSIDE    THE    WALLS. 
(Photograph  by  MRS.  VIVIAN.) 


its  wonderful  green  gateways,  and  its  strange  arched 
bazaars,  is  a  constant  delight.  At  Susa  and  Kairwan 
the  dinginess  of  the  drab  costumes  contributed  to  a 
depressing  impression,  but  at  Sfax  the  urchins  were 
brilliantly  polychrome.  The  outlines  of  the  town 
were  not  so  soft  as  at  Tunis,  but  they  were  far  more 
brilliantly  cheerful,  and  harmonized  with  the  dazzling 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER  213 

sun  on  the  white-washed  walls.  Many  children  wore 
parti-coloured  cloths,  the  right  half  scarlet  and  the 
left  half  Cambridge  blue,  or  one  side  purple  and  the 
other  salmon  pink,  like  glorified  clowns.  The  men 
wore  gigantic  turbans,  mostly  green,  which  implies  a 
claim  to  descent  from  the  Prophet,  and  they  conveyed 
an  air  of  festivity  by  the  large  pink  roses  or  geraniums 
poised  behind  their  ears.  I  recognised  many  types  of 
face  which  were  familiar  to  me  from  the  Arabian 
Nights,  and  more  than  one  sea-dog  who  was  certainly 
a  pirate  in  the  good  old  times.  Sfax  is  perhaps  best 
known  in  France  from  its  association  with  the  various 
notorieties  of  the  Zola  case.  The  best  house  in  the 
town  is  pointed  out  as  having  been  the  abode  of 
Esterhazy,  and  it  is  amusing  to  note  that  the  principal 
shop  is  kept  by  a  man  named  Dreyfus.  The  Greek 
fishermen  are  so  important  a  colony  there  that  many 
of  the  coffee-houses  bear  the  word  ^voSoyzlov  and 
other  inscriptions  in  the  Hellenic  character. 
Fortiflca-  Encouraged  by  the  acquiescence  of 
Europe  in  the  fortification  of  Bizerta,  the 
French  Government  is  now  about  to  turn  Sfax  into 
a  military  and  naval  stronghold.  Unlike  Bizerta, 
which  possesses  the  disadvantages  of  being  easily 
blockaded,  Sfax  will  make  an  excellent  naval  station. 
The  islands  of  Kerkenna  supply  it  with  a  natural 
rampart,  as  well  as  easy  outlets  to  the  north  and 
south.  Its  position  constitutes  it  an  answer,  if  not  a 
menace,  to  Malta  ;  and  we  may  here,  perhaps  for  the 
first  time,  feel  anxiety  at  the  presence  of  the  French 
in  Tunisia.  On  the  22nd  ot  March,  1898,  a  tender  was 


2T4 


TUNISIA 


accepted  for  the  construction  of  barracks  to  accommo- 
date ninety  sailors,  as  well  as  powder  and  torpedo 
magazines.  The  present  expenditure  is  ,£3,200,  and 
the  works  are  to  begin  at  once.  The  intention  is  to 
follow  them  up  with  far  more  extensive  fortifications 
later  on. 


BREAD-STALL    IN"    THE   OASIS    OK    GAUKS. 
{Photograph  by  MRS.  VIVIAN.) 


Gabes. 


The  land  journey  from  Sfax  to  Gabes  is 
over  such  bad  roads  and  so  desolate  a  tract 
of  country  that  it  is  wiser  to  go  by  sea.  The  Italian 
service  of  boats  is  well  appointed,  but  if  the  weather 
be  bad,  many  might  resent  the  trial  of  spending  eight 
hours  at  anchor  outside  the  canal  which  leads  to  the 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   215 

harbour  of  Sfax,  and  the  landing  at  Gabes  by  means 
of  small  boats  a  mile  away  from  shore. 

I  really  think  I  prefer  Gabes  to  any  other  place  in 
Tunisia.   It  consists  of  a  cluster  of  poor  houses  built  to 


minister  to  the  wants  of  the  French  garrison,  and  a 
tropical  array  of  palm  trees  of  every  si/e.  There 
are  delightful  gardens,  where  pomegranates,  bananas, 
bamboos,  and  many  luxuriant  (lowers  abound.  And 
the  Arab  villages  of  the  oasis  are  as  surprising  by 


2i6  TUNISIA 

their  architecture  as  by  their  hospitality.  I  traversed 
strange  underground  streets  of  exceeding  darkness, 
flanked  by  boulders  which  might  well  puzzle  an 
archaeologist.  Some  were  well-formed  capitals  of 
columns,  like  those  of  the  walls  of  El-Jem  amphi- 
theatre ;  others  were  megalithons  furnished  with  round 
holes,  such  as  have  been  rashly  identified  with  Baal- 
worship  in  Tripoli.  Nearly  all  were  full  of  fossils.  The 
streets  were  so  low  that  I  had  to  stoop  frequently  as 
I  walked,  but  I  was  told  that  camels  can  and  do  pass 
through  them.  Most  of  the  houses  are  built  on  two 
stories — the  lower  a  mere  courtyard  with  cattle-sheds, 
the  upper  a  rude  terrace  with  adjoining  hovels  for 
the  families.  Where  wood  is  necessary,  planks  of 
palm  trees  are  generally  used  with  reckless  extrava- 
gance. 

The  Arabs  of  the  interior  do  not  veil  or  mew  up 
their  women,  and  I  was  allowed  to  enter  freely  into 
every  house.  I  was  made  welcome  with  many  polite 
speeches,  and  excited  quite  as  much  curiosity  as  I 
experienced.  Two  missionary  ladies  who  accom- 
panied the  party  aroused  much  astonishment  by  con- 
fessing they  were  unmarried,  and  surprise  was  ex- 
pressed that  I  did  not  add  them  to  my  harem.  I 
was  much  commiserated  for  the  shortcomings  of  my 
Arabic,  and  told  that  any  one  who  spoke  no  Arabic 
might  as  well  be  dumb.  The  women  had  tattoo 
marks  on  their  chins  in  the  shape  of  an  imperial,  a  light 
tattoo  mark  on  the  tips  of  their  noses,  rows  of  little 
pigtails  matted  over  their  foreheads,  and  every  variety 
of  amulet,  from  the  ubiquitous  "  hand  of  Fatima "  to 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   217 

rosaries  of  coloured  glass  and  long  leather  cases 
containing  spells  against  serpents.  I  was  dismissed 
with  many  blessings  and  pats  on  the  back,  my  hostess 
remarking  that  all  strangers  were  good  people,  save 
only  the  Jews,  who  were  all  rascals. 

At    Gabes    nearly    every   one    is    a    gardener,    and 
everything    is  subservient    to    the    question    of    irri- 


gation, either  by  means  of  water  drawn  from  wells, 
or  by  an  artesian  system,  the  remote  origin  of  which 
is  unknown.  The  system  has  called  into  existence 
regular  rivers,  from  which  a  whole  network  of  streams 
has  been  diverted  all  over  the  oasis.  A  careful 
organization,  limiting  the  amount  of  water  to  which 
each  landowner  is  entitled,  has  served  to  maintain 


2i8  TUNISIA 

the  oasis  at  its  present  state  of  prosperity,  whereas 
the  neighbouring  oasis  of  Hamma  has  almost  ceased 
to  exist  owing  to  the  reckless  waste  of  water. 

Gabes  is  probably,  from  the  agricultural  point  of 
view,  one  of  the  most  prosperous  parts  of  Tunisia, 
land  fetching  as  much  as  ^300  per  acre,  and  property 
is  extremely  subdivided.  The  beehives  there  are 
worth  noting.  They  are  roughly  constructed  with  old 
drain  pipes,  but  they  succeed  in  producing  excellent 
honey.  The  bee  in  favour  there  is  a  large  black 
variety,  which  I  have  never  seen  anywhere  else. 

To  appreciate  Gabes  fully  I  think  one  ought  to 
arrive  there  from  the  interior.  After  a  long  period 
of  thirst  and  scorching  heat,  the  sight  of  green  trees 
and  bubbling  brooks  on  every  hand  makes  it  easy 
to  understand  that  the  Arab  should  have  chosen 
a  garden  as  his  vision  of  paradise.  But  coming  there 
from  anywhere,  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  captivated 
by  the  charming  scene.  Here  Nature  wears  her 
most  luxuriant  aspect ;  and  there  can  be  no  more 
soothing  and  agreeable  experience  than  wandering 
for  hours  along  little  paths  under  the  palm  trees, 
with  fragrant  shrubs  and  lovely  flowers  ministering 
to  every  craving  of  the  senses. 

My    enjoyment    of  Tunis    was    somewhat 

A  Sandstorm. 

tempered  by  almost  incessant  ram,  and  at 
Gabes  I  found  that  sand  storms  are  frequent  at 
all  times  of  the  year.  When  I  awoke  one  morning, 
I  found  the  whole  courtyard  of  the  inn  dense  with 
whirling  clouds  of  sand,  and  the  boots  I  had  put 
out  were  almost  buried  in  a  drift.  The  sand  had 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   219 

come  in  through  window  cracks,  and  my  clothes 
suggested  that  I  must  have  rolled  them  in  the  desert. 
When  I  went  out,  I  could  scarcely  see  across  the 
street,  and,  after  fighting  my  way  some  twenty  yards 
to  the  post  office,  I  found  my  whole  body  coated 
with  sand,  which  had  penetrated  inside  my  boots, 
collar,  nose,  mouth,  and  ears.  Though  the  wind  was 
strong,  the  air  was  of  the  most  oppressive  weight 
and  recalled  the  inside  of  a  hot-house.  A  drive,  in 
the  afternoon  across  a  stretch  of  desert  to  a  nei^h- 

o 

bouring  oasis  was  one  of  the  most  disagreeable  experi- 
ences I  ever  endured.  At  the  end  of  five  minutes 
I  was  so  hopelessly  blinded  and  drenched  with  sand 
that  I  was  almost  fain  to  sigh  for  the  streaming  skies 
of  Tunis. 

One  of   the  strangest  sights  in  the  oases 

Wells.        .  rt 

is  that  of  a  caravan  or  a  herd  reaching  the 
wells  after  a  long  desert  journey.  The  animals  know 
that  their  thirst  is  at  length  to  be  quenched,  and  it  re- 
quires infinite  pains  and  patience  to  prevent  them  from 
rushing  forward  and  injuring  themselves,  in  their 
wild  efforts  to  come  first.  As  a  rule  a  rough  pen 
is  erected,  and  they  are  only  let  out  to  the  water 
ten  or  twelve  at  a  time,  an  operation  which  requires 
great  strength  and  force  of  character  on  the  part  of 
the  drovers. 

The    Island   of  the   Lotus  or  Date  Haters 

Jerba.  .  111 

contains  no  towns,  but  merely  an  agglom- 
eration of  villages,  of  which  Humt  Suk  is  considered 
the  capital.  On  the  boat  I  entered  into  conversation 
with  a  shabby-looking  young  Frenchman,  who  told 


220  TUNISIA 

me  with  a  grand  air  that  he  was  the  Governor  of 
the  Island.  I  imagine  he  was  merely  the  controleur 
civil,  or  French  prefect.  It  was  at  Humt  Suk  that 
a  tower  of  skulls  was  erected  in  1560,  after  the  defeat 
of  the  Spaniards  by  Dragut  Pasha.  It  was  described 
in  1832  as  being  twenty  feet  high  and  ten  feet  at  the 
base,  tapering  toward  the  top,  and  composed  of  alter- 


A    WAYSIDE    WELL    BETWEEN    El. -JEM    AND   SKAX. 
(Photograph  by  MRS.  VIVIAN.) 

nate  layers  of  skulls  and  bones.  In  1848  the  Bey  of 
Tunis  acceded  to  a  request  of  the  European  Consuls, 
and  the  remains  were  buried  in  the  Christian  cemetery 
of  Jerba.  This  was  a  favourite  form  of  monument 
in  the  middle  ages,  and  it  is  strange  that  it  should 
not  have  survived  more  often.  The  Montenegrins 

o 

were  fond  of  making  similar  trophies  with  the  bones 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   221 

of  their  enemies,  and,  when  I  was  in  Servia,  I  noted 
the  indignation  with  which  the  people  of  Nish  looked 
upon  the  remains  of  a  tower  which  the  Turks  had 
made  there  early  in  the  century. 

There  is  still  an  imposing  Spanish  fort  at  Humt 
Suk,  which,  though  it  cannot  compare  with  the 
Spanish  fort  at  Tripoli,  is  yet  in  very  good  preser- 
vation. Nearly  the  whole  European  population 
of  Jerba  is  now  Maltese.  The  Jerbians  themselves 
differ  considerably  in  appearance,  habits,  and  religion 
from  the  Arabs  of  the  neighbouring  mainland.  They 
are  looked  upon  as  heretics  by  orthodox  Muhamma- 
dans,  and  are  divided  into  a  number  of  sects  which 
regard  each  other  as  heretics.  There  are  many 
traces  of  paganism  in  the  Muhamrnadanism  of  Jerba, 
where  a  great  many  households  set  up  a  shrine  and 
place  upon  it  offerings  and  libations  to  the  household 
god.  Some  people  are  of  opinion  that  this  is  a  form 
of  devil  worship,  and  the  Jerbians  are  certainly  very 
averse  from  speaking  about  it.  The  mosques  in  the 
island  are  readily  shown  to  strangers,  though  there  is 
no  compulsion  about  it  as  at  Kairwan. 

The  passage  from  Jerba  to  the  mainland  is  a  very 
narrow  one  and  so  shallow  that  there  is  no  difficulty 
about  wading  across  it  at  low  tide.  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that,  while  the  Mediterranean  is  tideless,  its  big 
recesses,  the  Adriatic  and  the  Gulf  of  Gabes,  have 
very  decided  tides. 

There  probably  remained  at  Jerba  a  greater  pro- 
portion of  the  original  native  race  than  anywhere 
else  in  Tunisia;  for  the  various  conquests  which  passed 


222  TUNISIA 

over  the  land  seem  to  have  left  a  fainter  imprint 
upon  this  favoured  island.  The  language  there 
contains  a  greater  element  of  Berber  roots  and  is 
more  closely  connected  with  the  speech  of  Rhadames 
than  with  that  of  Tunis.  Many  industries  are  also 
the  same  as  at  Rhadames.  The  woollen  garments 
are  almost  identical.  The  islanders  have  always 
excelled  in  commerce,  and  many  of  the  most  pros- 
perous merchants  in  Tunis  are  recruited  from  among 
them.  Their  pottery  is  second  only  to  that  of  Nabeul. 
They  shave  their  beards,  which  is  unusual  among  the 
Arabs  of  the  interior.  Many  of  the  men  wear  large 
hats,  like  a  caricature  of  Buffalo  Bill,  and  the  women 
pointed  caps  or  the  sugar-loaf  pattern. 

The  importance  of  Jerba  is  that  it  affords  a  ware- 
house for  the  whole  of  the  south  of  Tunisia.  At 
present  the  boats  have  to  anchor  several  miles  away, 
but  no  doubt  in  process  of  time  steps  will  be  taken 
to  provide  a  place  with  a  fortified  harbour.  Nor 
is  it  impossible  that,  if  the  French  ever  obtain  the 
control  of  the  caravan  trade  with  the  interior,  they 
may  succeed  in  turning  Jerba  into  one  of  the  principal 
ports  of  the  desert. 

The   old   town   of  Sbeitla  stands   upon   a 

Sbeitla. 

plateau,  overlooking  the  Wed  Sbeitla,  which 
issues  from  a  wild  gorge  a  little  way  off  to  the  North 
West.  A  great  many  centuries  ago  it  was  the  capital 
of  a  kingdom,  and  it  has  figured  prominently  in  the 
annals  of  Tunisia  throughout  the  dark  ages.  Now 
only  the  temples  and  triumphal  arches — without  which 
no  Roman  town  was  complete — have  survived,  and 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   223 

the  presence  of  a  few  cattle  browsing  among1  their 
ruins  may  be  taken  as  a  fair  type  of  the  degeneracy 
of  the  whole  land.  The  remains  of  the  town  itself 
present  so  hopelessly  confused  a  mass  that  at  present 
it  is  impossible  to  make  head  or  tail  of  it ;  and  unless 
the  French  make  a  radical  change  in  their  archaeo- 
logical policy  it  is  likely  to  remain  so. 

The  chief,  indeed  the  only,  interest  accessible  to  the 
passing  traveller  is  to  be  found  in  the  three  famous 
temples  which  stand  side  by  side,  and  the  triumphal 
arch,  decorated  with  four  Corinthian  columns  and 
bearing  inscriptions  of  the  2nd  century.  The  middle 
temple  is  of  a  composite  style,  the  other  two  are 
Corinthian.  Passing  through  the  triumphal  arch,  you 
find  a  broad  way  paved  with  large  flag  stones,  which, 
despite  the  wear  and  tear  of  centuries,  look  as  if 
they  might  have  been  put  down  yesterday.  Diligent 
research  in  the  neighbourhood  has  evolved  certain 

o 

conjectural  theories  as  to  the  site  of  a  theatre  and 
amphitheatre  ;  but  until  serious  excavations  shall  be 
undertaken  in  a  business-like  way,  it  is  impossible 
to  form  any  positive  opinion  as  to  anything  here. 

The    present    Arab    village    of    Thala    is 

Thala.  & 

probably  not  the  Thala  of  Jugurtha,  unless 
the  configuration  of  the  neighbourhood  has  changed 
completely  since  the  days  of  Sallust.  It  consists  of 
a  few  irregular,  tumble-down  houses,  huddled  together 
at  the  bottom  of  a  narrow  valley.  There  are  ruins 
everywhere,  only  waiting  to  be  dug  up  ;  but  we; 
might  say  as  much  of  almost  any  spot  taken  at 
random  in  the  Regency.  This  by  no  means  proves 


224  TUNISIA 

that  we  have  found  the  original  Thala,  a  word  which 
in  the  Berber  language  means  a  spring ;  in  Arabic 
is  given  to  a  gum-tree,  and  is  therefore  by  no  means 
uncommon. 

Some  French  travellers  who  visited  Thala  soon 
after  the  occupation,  relate  an  incident  which  occurred 
to  them  there  and  serves  to  show  the  French  atti- 
tude towards  the  natives.  They  were  entertained 
by  an  unfortunate  merchant  of  the  locality,  and,  with 
the  assistance  of  a  servile  kaid,  proceeded  to  give 
him  an  uncomfortable  quarter  of  an  hour  as  a  return 
for  his  hospitality.  They  began  by  telling  him  that 
they  had  heard  of  his  fighting  against  the  French, 
and  intended  to  hand  him  over  to  the  military  autho- 
rities, whereupon  he  grovelled  upon  the  ground, 
kissed  the  hem  of  their  garments,  swore  his  devo- 
tion to  France,  and  implored  for  mercy.  "It  is  idle 
to  protest,"  said  the  kaid,  "  unless  you  give  some 
proof  of  your  devotion.  You  must  put  on  European 
dress."  "  But  I  cannot  thus  go  against  the  laws  of  my 
religion,"  he  pleaded.  "  It  is  your  only  hope  of  escape." 
"  Very  well,  if  there  is  nothing  else  for  it,  give  me 
a  hat,  and  I  will  wear  it,  even  though  I  imperil  my 
soul."  He  accordingly  put  on  one  of  the  French- 
men's travel-stained  hats.  But  this  was  not  enough. 
"  Now  to  complete  the  test,"  said  the  kaid,  "  and 
show  these  gentlemen  once  for  all  what  sacrifices 
you  are  prepared  to  make  for  them,  you  must  lend 
them  your  wife."  The  poor  man  then  burst  into 
a  torrent  of  piteous  lamentations.  "  My  wife !  ah, 
no !  That  is  impossible,"  he  cried ;  "  but  I  will  give 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   225 

them  my  mother-in-law,  my  sister-in-law,  all  the 
members  of  my  wife's  family  if  they  like.  For 
God's  sake  let  their  lordships  be  content,  and  take 
away  my  mother-in-law  with  them."  The  scene  was 
protracted  for  a  long  time,  to  the  huge  diversion 
of  the  Frenchmen,  and  eventually  they  wound  it  up 
by  tearing  off  several  of  the  poor  wretch's  clothes 
and  driving  him  away  with  violent  blows  on  his 
back  and  his  head,  roaring  with  inextinguishable 
laughter  as  they  followed  up  each  blow  with  a 
tremendous  kick.  And  yet  they  express  surprise 
that  the  French  have  not  contrived  to  make  them- 
selves popular  among  the  Arabs. 

The  rock  of   El- Kef   recalls  that  of  Con- 

El-Kef. 

stantine  in  Algeria,  or  an  ogre's  castle  in  a 
dream.  Its  ramparts,  battlements  and  barbicans  are 
so  wedded  to  the  natural  rock  that,  until  you  are 
actually  there,  it  is  impossible  to  make  sure  how 
much  is  due  to  nature  and  how  much  to  art.  The 
very  houses  which  crouch  upon  the  side  suggest 
limpet  constructions  begotten  of  the  rock  itself.  You 
are  here  in  a  wild  country,  where  every  face  seems 
to  scowl  at  you,  and  where  you  feel  that  if  the  natives 
were  not  for  the  moment  overawed,  you  would  have 
a  short  shrift.  As  usual,  nature  is  in  tune  with  the 
temperament  of  the  natives,  and  the  rough  road, 
guarded  by  inhospitable  rocks,  the  frowning  sands, 
the  ungenerous  vegetation,  seem  to  emit  a  constant 
protest  against  your  intrusion.  On  a  rainy  day  the 
precipitous  streets  are  like  mountain  torrents,  in  which 
you  are  almost  washed  away,  and  during  the  hot 


226  TUNISIA 

weather  the  dust  is  so  great  that  you  might  almost 
fancy  yourself  in   the  thick  of  a  sand-storm. 

The  town  was  dedicated  to  Venus  by  the 
Carthaginians,  who  used  to  exile  their  revolted 
mercenaries  thither,  as  every  one  who  has  read 
Flaubert's  Salambo  will  remember.  It  is  still  an 
important  Arab  town,  and  many  sects  and  secret 
societies  have  taken  refuge  there,  in  the  hope  of 
being  less  interfered  with  than  they  would  be  in 
Tunis.  It  is  one  of  the  few  towns  of  the  interior 
which  have  given  any  sign  of  reviving  since  the 
occupation ;  but  one  result,  disappointing  to  archae- 
ologists, is  that  many  of  the  ancient  remains  have 
been  appropriated  for  modern  building.  The  only 
trace  remaining  of  the  ancient  worship  of  Venus 
there  is  the  habit  of  the  Arabs  to  offer  doves,  in 
fulfilment  of  vows,  at  a  mosque  which  has  been 
thought  to  occupy  the  site  of  the  ancient  temple. 
There  are  twelve  Roman  cisterns,  among  the  finest 
in  the  world,  and  second  only  to  those  of  Carthage. 
A  short  distance  outside  the  town  an  amphitheatre 
and  a  theatre  with  Ionic  columns  may  be  traced. 
There  are  two  Byzantine  churches,  which  would  not 
require  any  very  great  effort  to  restore.  A  branch  line 
to  El- Kef  has  often  been  talked  of,  but  it  will  probably 
be  a  long  time  before  any  attempt  at  a  complete 
railway  system  is  made  in  Tunisia,  and  the  town 
may  hope  to  preserve  something  of  its  natural  charm 
for  a  good  while  yet. 

Beja  stands  on   the  slope  of  a  hill  amid 

Beja.  .    J 

white  ramparts  and  silvery  olive  trees.    It  was 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   227 

an  important  city  at  the  time  of  Hannibal's  wars,  and 
had  a  reputation  for  riches  and  fertility  at  the  zenith 
of  Arab  rule.  It  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that 
Beja  has  continued,  from  the  days  of  Sallust  to  our 
own,  the  most  important  grain  market  in  North 
Africa.  The  mosque  there  is  dedicated  to  Jesus 
Christ,  who,  as  every  one  knows,  is  revered  by  the 
Muhammadans  as  one  of  their  most  holy  merabuts. 
The  old  Byzantine  wall,  flanked  by  22  towers,  is  still 
in  very  fair  condition  on  three  sides  of  the  town. 
Some  desultory  excavations  have  revealed  an  exten- 
sive Carthaginian  cemetery  containing  many  skeletons, 
but  very  little  else  except  some  ordinary  pottery, 
among  which  was  a  jar,  which  had  evidently  been 
broken  before  the  funeral  and  mended  again  with 
iron  wire. 

The  valley  of  the    Mejerda  is  of  infinite 

The  Mejerda.  ...... 

fertility,  but  wears  a  forbidding  aspect.  All 
the  colours  are  sombre,  and  the  river  itself  is  a  bilious 
torrent,  which  suggests  an  invading  army  rather  than 
a  bounteous  benefactor.  The  chief  river  of  Tunisia 
is  in  many  ways  typical  of  the  Arab  character.  At 
times  it  slumbers  along  through  an  immense,  fertile 
plain  ;  then  of  a  sudden  it  breaks  away  from  all  con- 
trol, and  carries  away  everything  before  it ;  bridges, 
houses,  flocks  and  herds,  are  swept  along  like  feathers 
in  a  tempest. 

Du^ga  is  approached  from  Tebursuk  by  a 

Dugga. 

picturesque  path,  which  meanders  among  little 
hills  and  barley  fields,  protected  against  the  birds 
by  live  scarecrows,  who  make  a  great  noise,  scream- 


228 


TUNISIA 


ing  and  cracking  long  leather  thongs.  Dugga 
stands  upon  an  abrupt  hill,  which  serves  as  a 
landmark  from  a  long  distance.  It  is  but  a  very 


DUGGA  :     CORINTHIAN    TKMl'I.E. 


unpretentious  Arab  village  and  only  merits  attention 
for  the  sake  of  the  adjoining  ruins.  Perhaps  the  most 
interesting  of  them  is  the  mausoleum,  or  rather 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER  229 

what  remains  of  it, — the  only  known  monument  of 
architecture  which  has  remained  from  Punic  times. 
It  formerly  possessed  an  inscription  in  the  Lybian 
and  Punic  tongues,  which  was  of  the  utmost  use  in 
determining  several  characters  of  the  Lybian  alphabet. 
Sir  Thomas  Read,  our  Consul  at  Tunis,  carried  it  off 
to  the  British  Museum  and,  unfortunately,  the  Arabs, 
whom  he  employed  to  do  this,  pulled  down  the  upper 
part  of  the  mausoleum  in  order  to  facilitate  their  work. 
A  picture  taken  in  1832  represents  the  mausoleum  as 
being  then  still  in  a  fairly  perfect  condition. 

There  are  also  a  theatre,  with  25  rows  of  steps,  and 
the  frontage  of  a  Corinthian  temple,  dedicated  to 
Marcus  Aurelius  and  Lucius  Verus,  with  an  exquis- 
itely sculptured  cornice  and  nearly  perfect  capitals. 
Standing  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  the  temple  dominates 
the  whole  neighbourhood  and  presents  to  the  ap- 
proaching traveller  an  exquisite  outline,  which  is 
scarcely  surpassed  by  that  of  the  Acropolis  at  Athens. 
The  steps  were  formerly  surmounted  by  a  wonderful 
portico,  which  must  have  commanded  an  ideal  view 
over  the  gardens  and  olive  yards,  the  rich  villas  and 
nourishing  towns,  stretching  away  to  the  purple 
mountains  upon  the  horizon.  The  rest  of  the  temple 
is  now  a  confused  ruin,  but  a  perfunctory  examination 
reveals  exquisite  mosaics,  graceful  columns,  and  rich 
carvings,  which  only  await  a  little  enterprise  to  olter 
an  irresistible  attraction  to  every  traveller  in  the 
Regency. 

The   town,    and    particularly   the   harbour, 

Blzerta. 

of   Hizerta  have   recently  assumed  a  wholly 


230  TUNISIA 

fictitious  importance.  When  the  French  took  over 
Tunisia,  they  promised  not  to  fortify  Bizerta,  but, 
borrowing  a  leaf  out  of  the  book  of  their  Russian  ally, 
they  are  now  laying  themselves  out  to  make  it  im- 
pregnable. They  have  built  a  fort  behind  the  town, 
another  on  the  adjoining  heights,  and  have  voted  the 
money  for  six  more  in  the  neighbourhood. 

There  has  lately  been  much  unnecessary  alarm  over 
rumours  of  the  cession  of  Bizerta  to  the  Russians,  and 
of  an  understanding  that  the  Russian  fleet  shall  be 
allowed  to  occupy  the  harbour  in  case  of  war.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  we  might  have  had  Bizerta  ourselves 
forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  but  our  naval  authorities 
rightly  judged  that  it  was  not  worth  troubling  about. 
To  begin  with,  Bizerta  does  not  command  any  im- 
portant position,  and  has  no  particular  use  as  a 
coaling  station. 

Stress  is  laid  upon  the  fact  that  all  the  fleets  ot 
the  world  might  easily  be  concealed  there,  and, 
awaiting  their  opportunity,  might  sally  forth  and 
command  the  Mediterranean.  The  old  harbour  was 
modest  enough,  and  the  French  have  now  cut  a 
channel  into  the  great  salt  lake  behind  the  town, 
which  lake,  equal  in  area  to  the  whole  city  of  Paris, 
affords  the  largest  harbour  in  the  world.  It  is  cer- 
tainly an  excellent  lake,  for  it  is  full  of  delicious  fish, 
which  supply  the  market  of  Tunis  and  render  a  stay 
there  a  pleasure.  But  most  naval  experts  are  agreed 
that,  though  all  the  navies  of  the  world  may  take 
refuge  in  the  harbour,  they  will  by  no  means  find  it 
so  easy  to  come  out  again.  A  ship  or  two  judiciously 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER  231 

sunk  at  the  entrance  to  the  canal  would  "  bottle  up  " 
the  fleets  for  weeks  or  months. 

Moreover,  Bizerta,  though  it  is  to  be  so  admirably 
defended  by  sea,  is  scarcely  at  all  defended  by  land. 
It  would  suffice  to  land  an  army  on  the  coast  to  the 
South  and  march  on  the  place.  Then  the  fleets, 
cooped  up  in  the  lake,  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  the 
surrounding  army ;  for  their  guns,  being  intended  for 
use  at  a  minimum  range  of  half  a  mile,  would  be 
quite  useless  against  ordinary  artillery.  To  sum  up, 
we  may  grumble  at  the  French  for  breaking  faith 
and  fortifying  a  place  they  had  undertaken  not  to 
fortify,  though  we  should  probably  have  done  the 
same  under  similar  circumstances.  But  we  are  free 
to  confess  that  we  have  nothing  to  fear. 

Bizerta  is  picturesque  but  dull.  There  is  a  charm- 
ing quarter,  still  named  "  Andalusian,"  which  was 
colonized  by  Moors  on  their  expulsion  from  Spain. 
The  descendants  of  these  Moors  are  still  distinct  in 
habits  and  appearance  from  the  Arabs  in  the  other 
quarters  of  the  town.  At  one  time  they  were  inveter- 
ate pirates,  and  they  kept  up  a  fierce  fanaticism  until 
very  recent  times.  It  is  only  quite  lately  that  Chris- 
tians or  Jews  have  been  allowed  to  set  foot  in  their 
quarter. 

As  a  modern  residence,  Bizerta  suffers  by  the 
exigencies  of  military  strategy.  Particularly  at  this 
period  of  spy-mania,  a  visitor  may  scarcely  venture 
anywhere,  for  he  is  warned  off  at  every  touch  and 
turn  from  the  approach  to  some  military  undertaking. 
Walking  about  with  a  guide,  I  came  upon  a  board 


232  TUNISIA 

marked  "Defense  d'entrer"  at  the  entrance  to  a  fort, 
which  is  now  used  only  as  a  barrack.  I  was  for 
turning  back,  but  the  guide  said,  "Come  on,  it  is  all 
right."  I  had  not  proceeded  many  yards,  however, 
before  an  officer  came  out  of  the  fort  at  a  great  pace 
and  marched  down  upon  me.  I  began  to  regret  that 
I  had  brought  a  camera,  and  cherished  visions  of  the 
lock-up.  However,  the  officer  passed  on  with  a  polite 
bow,  and  I  was  suffered  to  climb  an  eminence  and 
photograph  at  large.  Still,  there  was  a  feeling  of 
insecurity  about  the  proceeding,  and  I  do  not  hanker 
after  residence  at  Bizerta. 

The  salt  lake,  for  instance,  would  be  very  pleasant 
for  boating,  but  the  fishing  has  been  taken  over  by 
a  company,  and  no  boat  may  venture  to  disturb  it. 
The  canal  must  also  be  a  constant  nuisance.  In 
consideration  of  its  having  been  dry  land,  the  huge 
steam  ferry,  which  must  have  cost  a  large  sum  to 
erect,  is  free  to  all  comers.  Horses,  carriages, 
waggons,  peasants,  funerals,  all  huddle  together  on 
a  kind  of  floating  platform,  and  are  slowly  tugged 
across.  Sometimes  they  must  wait  forty  minutes  or 
an  hour  for  the  ferry,  if  there  be  ships  or  other 
obstruction.  Sometimes  the  rope  breaks,  and  they 
drift  helplessly  down  towards  the  open  sea  until  a 
steam  tug  comes  to  tow  them  back.  Then  it  will  be 
three  or  four  hours  until  the  ferry  is  re-established, 
and  you  may  lose  your  temper  if  you  are  driving  out 
to  dinner  or  to  catch  a  train. 

Bizerta  is  connected  with  Tunis  by  a  ramshackle 
light  railway,  which  takes  over  three  hours  to  cover 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER   233 

thirty-six  miles.  It  is  far  pleasanter  to  charter  a  pair 
of  strong  mules  and  drive  over  in  four  and  a  half 
hours.  Until  the  end  of  January,  1898,  there  was 
an  excellent  hotel  in  Bizerta,  better  than  any  in 


Tunis.  It  was  kept  by  a  French  gentleman.  He- 
had  bought  it  as  a  private  house,  and,  losing  his 
money,  tried  in  vain  to  let  it.  Then  he  decided  to 
open  it  as  an  hotel ;  but  so  few  people  come  to  Bi/erta, 


234  TUNISIA 

and  those  so  poor,  that  he  was  soon  compelled  to  put 
up  his  shutters.  Now,  however,  I  hear  that  it  has 
been  reopened  under  good  management,  and  it  should 
prosper  since  the  mail  steamers  have  taken  to  touching 
at  Bizerta.  With  a  little  effort,  it  may  soon  become  a 
tourist  resort  on  a  small  scale,  and  we  may  live  to 
see  a  casino  facing  its  silver  sands. 

A  recent  incident  at  Bizerta  deserves  to  be  men- 
tioned as  an  illustration  of  the  present  temper  of  the 
French  towards  us.  The  day  before  the  arrival  of 
the  French  fleet  for  their  annual  manoeuvres,  a  British 
vessel,  bound  from  India  to  Southampton,  arrived  off 
this  harbour  with  the  intention  of  coaling,  but  was 
informed  that  as  India  was  infected  with  plague, 
she  must  wait  outside  and  coal  there.  She  accor- 
dingly sought  out  the  best  anchorage  she  could  find, 
and  in  the  process  contrived  to  run  aground  at  a  spot 
which  completely  blocked  the  entrance  to  the  harbour. 
If  the  French  fleet  had  then  been  inside,  it  would 
have  been  as  effectively  "  bottled  up "  as  that  of 
Admiral  Cervera  by  the  Merrimac.  As  it  was,  if 
our  ship  remained  there,  the  French  fleet,  which  was 
expected  on  the  morrow,  would  not  have  been  able  to 
come  in,  and  onlookers  would  have  been  provided  with 
excellent  ocular  demonstration  of  the  uselessness  of  the 
harbour  of  Bizerta,  upon  which  the  French  pride  them- 
selves so  vastly.  Naturally  the  French  were  furious. 
They  declared  that  they  had  positive  information  of 
the  presence  of  a  notorious  spy  on  board,  and  that 
the  British  ship  had  run  aground  on  purpose ;  as  if 
so  great  a  sacrifice  would  have  been  worth  making  to 


THE  INSIDE  OF  THE  CUP  AND  THE  PLATTER  235 

obtain  information  which  is  easily  accessible  to  every 
traveller  who  cares  to  keep  his  eyes  open.  At  first 
a  serious  demand  was  made  that  the  ship  should 
be  blown  up,  but  at  length  more  prudent  counsels 
prevailed,  and  she  was  easily  towed  off.  Angry 
denunciations  of  English  perfidy  are  still,  however, 
maintained  in  the  Tunisian  press,  and  the  locality 
does  not  even  solace  itself  with  the  reflection  that 
our  ship's  visit  to  this  hospitable  port  involved  it  in 
an  expenditure  of  nearly  ,£500.  Such  incidents  as 
this,  coupled  with  the  difficulties  which  are  constantly 
being  placed  in  the  path  of  travellers  in  Tunisia,  are 
not  likely  to  facilitate  the  development  of  the  country 
as  a  tourist  resort,  which  the  authorities  of  the 
Regency  constantly  profess  to  have  at  heart. 


Chapter    VIII 

TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE 

Vulture-Princes — Bazaars— Industries— Saddlery  —  Sheshias—  Dye- 
ing—  Tanners — Carpets — Perfumes— Arms — Potteries — Haifa- 
grass  —  Trade  with  the  interior  -  -  Rhadames  —  Rhat — 
The  Tuaregs — Agricultural  Methods  —  Habbus  —  Wells — The 
Cactus  —  Vines — Olives — Fisheries — Sponges — Pulps. 

vulture-  It  is  perhaps  chiefly  for  their  bazaars  that 
Arab  towns  entrance  the  traveller.  You 
may  come  to  know  every  detail  of  Arab  life  and 
habits  and  you  may  satiate  yourself  with  the  vivid 
local  colour,  but  assuredly  you  must  be  hard  to 
please  if  you  ever  tire  of  the  infinite  variety  of  the 
bazaars.  You  must,  however,  set  out  with  a  plentiful 
stock  of  patience,  for  hurry  is  unknown  in  the  East, 
and  there  are  armies  of  pertinacious  touts,  who  pounce 
upon  the  stranger  on  the  instant  of  his  arrival,  and 
are  almost  impossible  to  shake  off.  As  the  merchants 
never  leave  their  shops,  and  even  require  some 
persuasion  before  bestirring  themselves  to  serve  a 
customer,  they  rely  almost  entirely  upon  the  hotel 
guides  and  their  own  touts.  A  tout  never  confesses 
what  he  is,  but  accosts  you  with  a  specious  invitation 
to  visit  his  shop  or  his  uncle's,  as  the  case  may  be. 
Then  he  leads  you  to  his  employers  and  proceeds 


236 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE  237 

to  pull  down  all  the  wares  and  display  them  as  if 
they  were  his  own.  The  merchants  are  made  to 
fetch  and  carry  for  him  and  bidden  bring  you  coffee. 
He  will  bring  down  a  piece  of  stuff  worth  at  the 
outside  20  francs  and  coolly  ask  you  200  for  it. 
If  you  are  new  to  the  game,  you  will  think  yourself 
very  clever  in  getting  it  for  150,  and  later  on  in  the 
day  he  will  return  to  the  merchant  to  divide  the  profit. 
If  you  fail  to  find  what  you  require  in  the  first  shop,  he 
will  take  you  to  another,  describing  it  as  his  branch 
establishment,  and  you  will  probably  be  taken  in 
by  the  deference  shown  him  by  the  real  proprietor, 
who  is  of  course  in  the  swim.  If  you  wish  to  choose 
your  own  design,  he  will  take  you  to  the  small  fac- 
tories, where  every  man  works  for  himself,  and  inform 
you  with  a  lordly  air  "  Here  are  our  workpeople.' 
These  touts  often  grow  very  rich,  as  it  is  by  no 
means  unusual  for  an  American  to  come  and  spend 
^"400  for  things  which  may  be  worth  forty,  and  this 
leaves  a  good  deal  to  be  divided  up.  As  there  is 
absolutely  no  price  in  the  ba/aars,  save  what  may  be 
decided  by  shameless  bargaining,  neither  is  there  any 
limit  to  the  extortion  which  may  be  practised  on 
those  who  are  ignorant  of  the  value  of  Oriental 
goods. 

The  touts  are  to  be  met  with  anywhere  or  every- 
where. In  your  hotel  dining-room,  outside  a  collect- 
house,  or  in  the  seat  next  to  you  at  the  theatre, 
you  mav  find  a  jjoro'eous  Oriental,  who  falls  into 

J  J  O  O 

conversation   with    you   and   tells    you    all    manner    of 
interesting  things.     In  the  end  he  pulls  out  his  card, and 


238  TUNISIA 

informs  you  that  he  is  one  of  the  principal  merchants 
in  the  bazaars,  and  that  if  you  will  come  to  his  shop 
he  hopes  that  you  will  look  upon  it  as  your  home. 
If  you  come  at  a  time  when  he  is  expecting  you, 
you  will  find  him  awaiting  you  in  state,  with  all  the 
people  at  his  beck  and  call,  but  if  you  chance  to 
come  at  an  inconvenient  season,  you  may  discover  him 
in  his  shirt  sleeves  measuring  a  nigger  for  a  livery. 
Most  of  these  touts  have  from  time  to  time  done 
something  to  put  themselves  within  the  meshes  of 
the  law,  and  have  suffered  various  terms  of  imprison- 
ment ;  but  no  decisive  action  has  ever  yet  been  taken 
against  them,  unless  we  except  a  recent  occasion, 
when  a  party  of  some  200  tourists  was  in  possession 
of  the  town,  and  the  Government  arbitrarily  shut 
up  all  the  touts  for  twenty- four  hours  until  the  de- 
parture of  the  tourists. 

These  touts  have  been  happily  dubbed  "  vultures  " 
by  a  local  paper.  A  particularly  persistent  "vulture," 
the  hero  of  a  thousand  impudent  exploits,  recently 
acquired  considerable  notoriety  by  his  prowess  in 
passing  himself  off  on  an  English  yachtsman  as  the 
Bey's  son.  He  once  went  to  Malta,  and  was  received 
everywhere  in  society  and  at  officers'  clubs  and 
messes  as  a  Tunisian  prince. 

The  bazaars  at  Tunis  are  said  to  be  the 

Bazaars. 

best  in  Africa,  if  not  in  the  Orient,  bearing 
comparison  even  with  those  of  Stambul.  I  think 
they  now  subsist  to  a  large  extent  on  a  worn-out 
reputation,  but  there  are  still  wonderful  embroideries, 
carpets  from  Kairwan,  woven  silks,  and  cloth  of  the 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE  239 

subtlest  shades  to  be  found  at  reasonable  prices. 
Of  course,  many  goods  are  of  French  manufacture  ; 
but  they  are  made  for  the  African  market  and  could 
not  be  bought  in  Europe  at  any  price,  so  that  they 
acquire  an  Oriental  character,  like  Asiatic  idols 
made,  but  not  to  be  purchased,  in  Birmingham.  The 
best  native  embroideries  are  generally  worked  on 
the  commonest  material,  the  merchants  explaining 
this  on  the  score  of  durability.  As  labour  is  cheap 
in  Tunis,  their  intrinsic  value  is  low  ;  and  as  each 
merchant  has  his  own  looms,  he  is  always  ready  to 
weave  any  pattern  a  customer  may  order.  The 
process  of  purchase  is  generally  long,  necessitating 
several  hours'  negotiation  and  the  consumption  of 
an  inordinate  amount  of  coffee.  Does  a  customer 
spend  a  whole  afternoon  in  seeing  the  shop  turned 
upside  down,  the  utmost  good  nature  prevails,  even 
though  he  decide  to  buy  nothing.  He  is  overwhelmed 
with  compliments,  begged  to  consider  the  whole  shop 
as  his  own,  and  encouraged  to  come  again,  as  if  the 
mere  pleasure  of  his  company  were  ample  reward. 
Should  he  decide  on  a  purchase,  every  franc  is  con- 
tested mercilessly,  but,  once  a  bargain  is  concluded, 
he  is  treated  as  a  benefactor. 

The  favourite  gag  in  the  large  shops  is  to  tell  you 
that  second-hand  goods  have  either  belonged  to 
the  Bey,  or  to  one  of  his  generals,  and  this  is  a 
fruitful  pretext  for  enhancing  the  price.  This  is 
of  course  almost  always  a  romance.  But  it  ap- 
pears to  be  the  fact  that  most  of  the  big  shops 
employ  a  number  of  old  women,  who  go  the  round 


240 


TUNISIA 


of  the  harems  and  buy  up  all  the  pretty  old  things 
they  can  find,  or  else  give  tawdry  modern  things 
exchange  for  them.  It  is  also  usual  to  pretend 


in 


that  the  carpets,   arms,   and  embroideries  come  from 


-  ~ ;  •.^»^vv 
GUARD    AT    THE    ENTRANCE   OK    THE    BAZAARS. 

Mecca,  but  this  is  very  rarely  true.  Much  merchan- 
dise comes  from  Syria,  but  most  of  what  we  find  is 
made  in  Tunis  or  Kairwan. 

The  bazaars  consist  of  whitewashed  arcades  with  a 


211 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE  24;> 

number  of  niches  where  the  smaller  fry  make  or 
sell  their  goods,  and  regular  shops  where  Jama'al 
and  other  merchant  princes  abide.  At  the  back  of 
Jama'al's  shop  is  an  open  court  with  an  orange  tree 
in  the  middle  and  little  rooms  giving  on  to  a  gallery 
all  round.  This,  he  tells  you,  is  the  old  slave-market 
and  the  human  wares  used  to  be  lodged  in  these  little 
rooms  until  they  were  sold.  With  the  exception  of 
the  big  shops,  which  are  bazaars  in  our  sense  of  the 
word  and  which  contain  a  large  variety  of  goods, 
the  various  trades  are  divided  into  streets,  as  used 
to  be  the  wont  in  Europe. 

Everything  is   mediaeval   in  Tunisia,  and 

Industries.  * 

it  is  not  therefore  surprising  to  find  that 
all  the  artisans  are  constituted  into  guilds,  each  pre- 
sided over  by  a  master,  called  aniin,  who  controls 
the  admission  of  apprentices  and  takes  care  that  all 
work  is  done  according  to  traditional  methods.  The 
am  in  is  elected  by  the  members  of  his  guild, 
subject  to  the  ratification  of  the  Bey.  The  principal 
guild  is  that  of  the  makers  of  s/ics/iias,  and 
among  others  may  be  noted  the  dyers,  saddle-makers, 
silk- weavers,  locksmiths,  perfumers,  goldsmiths,  masons, 
tanners,  potters,  hoopers,  masseurs  in  the  Moorish 
baths,  and  even  the  circumcisers. 

The  saddlers'   bazaar   is    perhaps  the  most 

Saddlery.  .  .  . 

pleasing  and  highly-considered  in  1  urns. 
Any  occupation  remotely  connected  with  horses  ac- 
quires dignity  there,  and  many  of  the  better- class 
Arabs  take  a  pleasure  in  apprenticing  themselves  for 
some  years  to  a  saddler.  It  is,  moreover,  in  the 


244  TUNISIA 

centre  of  this  bazaar  that  one  of  the  most  famous  of 
the  Tunisian  saints  has  been  buried.  His  tomb,  a 
wooden  box  brightly  painted  with  green  and  red, 
stands  in  the  middle  of  the  roadway,  and  all  who 
pass  through  on  foot  or  on  horseback  must  step  aside 
in  deference  to  his  memory.  Where  an  Arab  can 
afford  fine  clothes  for  himself,  he  deems  it  doubly 
necessary  to  provide  handsome  trappings  for  his 
horse.  Turquoises  and  other  jewels  are  often  used, 
but  silk  and  gold  and  silver  thread,  embroidered  upon 
every  kind  of  coloured  leather  with  all  the  imagin- 
ation of  Arab  workmanship,  are  most  usual.  A 
saddler  works  all  his  designs  out  of  his  head,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  and  although  the  leather  is  nearly 
all  imported  from  France,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
about  the  Oriental  character  of  the  finished  article. 
The  saddles  are  always  elaborately  worked,  and 
have,  as  a  rule,  a  high  back  to  them,  which  makes 
riding,  but  not  mounting,  a  luxury.  The  bridle  is 
also  excessively  decorated,  and  the  trappings  on 
the  horse's  head  are  provided  with  all  manner  of 
jingling  adjuncts,  which  are  considered  of  special 
use  against  the  evil  eye.  The  bits  are  generally 
decorated  with  metal  crescents  or  ivory  hands,  for  the 
same  purpose.  You  may  also  see  in  the  shops 
silver  stirrups  and  spurs  very  richly  damascened. 
The  saddler  occupies  his  spare  time  in  embroidering 
fancy  foot-stools,  which  you  are  expected  to  stuff 
for  yourself  at  home  with  horse-hair ;  little  pocket 
mirrors  encased  in  leather ;  and  pouches  for  contain- 
ing charms. 


TRADE  AND  AGRICULTURE  247 

The  Tunisian  fez  is  narrower  than  the 
Turkish  and  has  a  much  bigger  tassel,  of 
blue  silk  instead  of  black.  In  old  days  its  manu- 
facture was  one  of  the  chief  industries  of  Tunis, 
but  of  late  years  the  competition  of  inferior  Austrian 
wares,  at  less  than  half  the  price,  has  caused  great 
depression.  The  process  is  a  simple  one.  The 
rudimentary  cap  is  coarsely  knitted  in  thick  white 
wool,  somewhat  resembling  that  known  as  double 

o 

Berlin.  It  then  looks  like  a  loose  jelly-bag  and  is 
washed  until  it  has  shrunk  considerably.  After  this 
it  is  teased  with  thistle  combs,  two  of  which  are 
fixed  together  on  a  rude  wooden  frame.  The  fluffy 
surface  is  then  shorn  and  the  sheshia  goes  to  Zaghwan 
to  be  dyed  scarlet.  The  industry  of  sheshia-dyeing 
there  used  to  be  the  staple  one  of  the  place,  but  it  has 
now  suffered  severely  from  the  foreign  competition. 

There  are  seventy  dyeing  establishments 

Dyeing.  .  or  c 

at  1  unis,  sixty-two  at  bfax,  twenty-nve 
(Jews)  at  Jerba,  ten  at  Kairwan,  and  many  others 
elsewhere.  Each  place  has  its  own  system.  For 
instance,  at  Susa  an  equal  weight  of  dates  is  added 
to  the  indigo.  The  favourite  dyes  employed  in 
Tunisia  are  indigo,  cochineal,  alizari,  pomegranate 
flowers,  gall  nuts,  and  henna  ;  but  gradually,  with 
French  influence,  inferior  powdered  dyes  are  coming 
in  ready-prepared,  and  none  of  the  colours  now 
have  anything  approaching  the  permanency  which 
they  possessed  before  the  occupation. 

Most  of  the  bark  used  in  tanning  comes 

Tanning.  .    . 

irom    the    iNortn   of     1  umsia,    the    favourite 


248  TUNISIA 

being  that  of  the  Aleppo  pine.  The  skins  are  placed 
in  huge  jars,  containing  forty  or  fifty  gallons,  and,  after 
being  washed  in  salt  water,  are  soaked  in  the  various 

O 

decoctions  of  bark.  The  tanneries  at  Kairwan  were 
formerly  of  equal  repute  with  those  of  Morocco,  but 
though  ten  establishments  still  remain  in  the  Holy 
City,  the  industry  is  far  from  prosperous.  The 
favourite  skins  are  those  of  sheep  and  goats,  particu- 
larly for  making  shoe  leather.  The  parchments, 
required  for  making  books  in  a  land  where  nothing 
is  ephemeral,  are  prepared  from  sheep  skins  subjected 
to  an  epilatory  process. 

Kairwan   carpets    enjoy   a   reputation    all 

Carpets.  111  i 

over  the  world,  but,  as  seems  to  be  the  case 
with  almost  everything  in  this  unfortunate  country, 
their  glory  has  departed.  At  present,  400  families  in 
Kairwan  produce  carpets  to  the  value  of  ,£10,000  or 
,£11,000  a  year.  But  prices  are  steadily  going  down 
—they  have  fallen  from  12.?.  to  75-.  6d.  the  square 
yard  during  the  last  few  years  alone, — and  it  becomes 
a  question  how  long  it  will  be  worth  while  to  continue 
making  carpets  at  all.  Many,  however,  of  great 
beauty  and  durability,  may  still  be  had,  and  their 
perfection  is  probably  due,  in  a  large  measure,  to  the 
fact  that  their  production  has  been,  and  still  is,  a 
home  industry.  No  doubt  French  capitalists  will 
presently  establish  factories  on  a  large  scale,  and  then 
the  Holy  City  will  degenerate  into  a  sort  of  French 
Kidderminster.  The  carpets  are,  in  almost  every 
case,  made  by  women,  who  crouch  behind  a  clumsy 
frame  and  work,  not  only  without  a  model,  but  even 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE 


253 


without  seeing  what  they  are  turning  out.  Each 
family  has  its  own  design,  which  is  reproduced,  with 
slight  variations  according  to  individual  fancy,  from 


generation  to  generation.  The  most  expensive  car- 
pets are  a  mixture  of  wool  and  cotton,  requiring  more 
labour  than  those  entirely  of  wool.  The  si/e  and 


254  TUNISIA 

shape  of  the  carpets  vary  according  as  they  are 
intended  for  prayer,  for  the  backs  of  horses,  or  for 
the  furnishing  of  tents.  Elsewhere  in  the  Regency 
very  fair  woollen  carpets  are  reproduced,  notably  at 
Susa,  at  Jara  in  the  oasis  of  Gabes,  and  among  the 
nomadic  Swassi.  Silk  coverings  are  woven  at  Jerba, 
and  in  the  oasis  of  the  Jerid  ;  and  in  Tunis  itself  no 
less  than  4,000  persons  occupy  themselves  with  the 
manufacture  of  silk. 

The  most  aristocratic  form  of  commerce  in 

Perfumes.    _  ..     ,          .  .        . 

I  urns  is  to  keep  one  of  the  shops  m  the 
Suk  Attarin  (perfume  bazaar).  These  are  generally 
the  property  of  wealthy  Arabs  of  ancient  lineage,  who 
consider  it  good  form  to  have  something  to  do  and 
accordingly  spend  a  few  hours  there  every  day  gossip- 
ing with  their  friends,  and  looking  upon  customers  as 
a  bore.  There  is  a  tradition  that  they  are  in  many 
cases  descended  from  the  Moors  of  Spain,  and  that 
each  of  them  still  cherishes  among  his  most  valued 
possessions  the  key  of  the  house  which  his  ancestors 
once  owned  at  Granada.  The  specialities  in  the  way 
of  perfumes  are  essences  of  violet  and  geranium, 
which  cannot  be  procured  elsewhere  in  such  excel- 
lence. These  and  the  usual  essences  of  roses,  orange 
blossom,  jasmin,  etc.,  are  distilled  as  a  home  industry 
in  primitive  alembics  all  over  the  country,  but  more 
particularly  at  Sfax  and  Nabeul,  which  are  surrounded 
by  wonderful  gardens. 

The  armourers'  bazaar  at  Tunis  is  at  first 

sight  disappointing.  There  are  none  of  the 
wonderful  old  weapons  which  are  to  be  found  in  the 


TIIK    I'KKiTMi;    BA/.AAK. 
255 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE  257 

Bezestin  at  Constantinople,  and  the  supply  of  Damas- 
cus blades  is  neither  better  nor  more  genuine  than  in 
the  average  Oriental  bazaar.  But  the  modern  arms  to 
be  found  at  Tunis  possess  a  certain  beauty  and  origin- 
ality. There  are  long  guns  with  octagonal  barrels, 
beautifully  chased  in  silver  with  inscriptions  and 
fantastic  designs  ;  finely  carved  stocks  ;  lumbering,  but 
exceedingly  decorative  pistols  ;  and  swords  or  daggers 
with  chased  and  jewelled  hilts  of  characteristic  native 
pattern.  Moreover,  the  prices,  after  clue  haggling, 
are  exceedingly  moderate. 

Tunisian   pottery  is,  perhaps,  dying  harder 

Potteries.  1-1  TIT 

than  almost  any  other  industry.  Its  head- 
quarters are  at  Jerbaand  Nabeul.  At  Jerba  there  are 
still  over  i  50  potteries  for  the  manufacture  of  jars  of 
an  ancient  and  graceful  model,  handed  down  from  the 
days  of  Ali  Baba.  At  Nabeul  over  an  hundred  estab- 
lishments occupy  themselves  with  the  creation  ol 
every  kind  of  household  implement,  by  a  process  very 
little  different  from  that  which  maybe  observed  almost 
anywhere  in  Europe.  In  Tunis,  also,  there  is  a  bed 
of  clay,  where  the  potters'  bazaar  has  established 
itself  and  turns  out  a  number  of  rough  but  pleasing- 
shapes.  The  square  tiles,  which  may  still  be  seen  in 
many  of  the  principal  palaces  and  offer  so  great  a 
delight  to  the  artistic  eye,  are  no  longer  made,  except 
on  a  very  small  scale  and  to  order,  as  they  have  not 
been  able  to  stand  the  competition  of  the  cheap 
squares  of  cement  which  satisfy  the  modern  taste. 

The  cultivation  of  halfa-grass  is,  owing  to 

Haifa-Grass.    .....  ,          . 

its   simplicity,   one   of  the   most    popular   in- 


258  TUNISIA 

dustries  in  Tunis.  At  all  periods  of  the  year,  through- 
out the  greater  part  of  the  Regency,  the  natives  eke 
out  their  livelihood  by  plucking  this  grass,  which  grows 
readily  upon  the  most  ungrateful  soil.  It  may  also  be 
cut,  but  this  involves  the  complete  destruction  of  the 
plant.  Large  supplies  are  exported  to  England  for 
making  paper,  and  the  remainder  is  either  given  to  the 
cattle  or  used  for  weaving  into  rope,  baskets  and  all 
manner  of  other  useful  objects.  You  will  scarce  find 
a  native  anywhere  who  does  not  know  how  to  make 
something  out  of  halfa-grass,  which  affords  excellent 
opportunities  for  the  utilization  of  every  spare  moment. 
Reed  and  palm  leaves  are  also  used  largely  in  weav- 
ing, particularly  for  making  mats,  fly-whisks,  fans,  sun- 
hats,  and  all  manner  of  baskets. 

From    time    immemorial,    caravans    have 
with  the    plied  across  the  Sahara  to  effect  an  exchange 

Interior.      r  => 

between  the  best  treasures  of  the  savages  of 
Central  Africa  and  the  worst  products  of  European 
civilization.  For  many  centuries,  under  the  Arabs, 
the  transit  of  the  desert  was  fairly  safe,  easy,  and 
regular,  but  since  the  establishment  of  the  French  in 
North  Africa,  it  has  become  more  and  more  difficult. 
As  the  Sahara  presents  a  zone  about  a  thousand  miles 
wide,  it  can  only  be  crossed  by  having  recourse  to 
watering-places  at  fixed  points, — which  are  just  as 
necessary  as  coaling  stations  to  steamers  at  sea.  In 
fact,  the  more  you  contemplate  the  desert,  the  more 
you  are  struck  by  its  similarities  to  an  ocean.  It  has 
ports,  islands,  storms,  pirates,  loneliness,  and  almost 
every  other  characteristic  of  the  sea.  There  are,  or 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE  259 

have  been  until  recently,  seven  recognised  caravan 
lines,  which  are  as  important  to  be  noticed  and 
learned  by  heart  by  all  students  of  Africa  as  the 
railways  of  Europe  are  by  the  modern  strategist. 
Beginning  at  the  West,  the  first  two  lines  are  from  Tim- 
buctoo  to  Morocco  and  Algiers.  The  third  and  fourth, 
starting  from  Kano  (which  is  about  half-way  between 
the  Niger  and  Lake  Chad),  proceed  together  as  far  as 
Asiu,  whence  the  third  (now  almost  entirely  abandoned 
for  fear  of  the  Tuaregs)  proceeds  to  Biskra,  and  the 
fourth  (now  about  the  only  one  in  regular  use)  goes 
by  way  of  Rhat  and  Rhadames  to  Tripoli.  The  fifth 
proceeds  from  Kuka,  on  Lake  Chad,  through  Fezzan 
to  Tripoli.  The  sixth  is  from  Abesh  to  Benghazi. 
The  seventh  unites  El-Fasher  with  Egypt.  These 
caravan  lines,  which  have  existed,  with  small  variation, 
since  Carthaginian  times,  have  been  the  main  arteries 
for  spreading  Muhammadanism  all  over  Africa — a 
fact  which  explains  that  the  lines  to  Algeria  and  the 
attempt  to  divert  the  fourth  line  into  Tunisia  should 
have  proved  hopeless  failures.  As  if  the  French  had 
not  already  sufficient  difficulties  to  cope  with,  they 
made  the  caravan  lines,  in  which  they  were  interested, 
still  more  impossible  by  attempting  to  set  up  custom 
houses  at  the  ports  of  the  desert. 

Some  statistics,  necessarily  dependent,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, upon  guess-work,  give  the  following  as  the  value 
of  the  caravan  trade  during  1890  :  Line  i,  ,£68,000; 
2,  /« 30,000;  4,  ,£120,000;  5  and  6,  £2  20,000.  These 
are  significant,  as  they  show  that  Tripoli  enjoys  four- 
fifths  of  the  whole  caravan  trade,  Algeria  and  Tunisia 


260  TUNISIA 

none  at  all.  The  falling  off  of  this  caravan  trade  had 
been  surprisingly  rapid.  At  the  middle  of  this  cen- 
tury the  trade  across  the  Sahara  represented  between 
two  and  three  millions  sterling  a  year,  and  that  was 
already  a  great  falling  off  from  preceding  years.  Now 
the  whole  trade  is  less  than  ,£440,000.  The  ambition 
of  the  French  is,  of  course,  to  seize  the  whole  trade 
of  the  Sahara  by  constructing  a  railway  either  from 
Biskra  or  Gabes  to  Lake  Chad  and  the  Niger  ;  but 
any  nation  which  could  obtain  permission  from  the 
Sultan  to  build  a  trans-Saharan  railway,  with  a  ter- 
minus either  at  Tripoli  or  Benghazi,  would  make  a 
much  better  start.  It  would  be  like  a  literary  man 
who  preferred  to  invest  in  an  already  fairly  flourishing 
newspaper,  rather  than  to  court  disaster  by  starting  a 
new  one,  or  attempting  to  resuscitate  one  long  since 
dead. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  French  flatter  themselves 
that  they  may  be  able  to  divert  the  fourth  of  the 
seven  lines  at  Rhadames,  so  that  instead  of  going  to 
Tripoli  it  shall  make  its  way  to  Gabes  and  Tunis. 
The  possession  of  this  line  would  serve  the  French  as 
a  very  useful  argument  when  questions  of  the  parti- 
tion of  the  Mediterranean  hinterland  came  up.  But, 
so  far,  all  attempts  to  pacify  the  Tuaregs  have  proved 
unavailing,  not  because  this  people  is  quite  so  fero- 
cious as  baffled  Frenchmen  seek  to  make  out,  but 
because  France  has  no  idea  of  the  right  way  to  set 
about  the  work  of  conciliation. 

Another  absurd  pretension  on  the  part  of  the 
French  is  that  all  the  hinterlands  of  the  Mediterra- 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE  261 

nean  belong  to  the  nations  which  own  the  coasts   at 

o 

the  same  longitude.  On  the  strength  of  this  they 
hint  at  a  claim  to  the  possession  of  Rhadames  and 
Rhat,  because  they  are  west  of  the  longitude  of 
Zarzis,  the  frontier  on  the  coast  between  Tunisia  and 
Tripoli.  It  would  not  surprise  me  to  hear  at  any 
moment  that  they  had  made  a  raid  upon  these  towns. 
Rhadames  and  Rhat  are,  however,  Tripolitan  towns, 
occupied  by  Turkish  garrisons  and  mentioned  in 
treaties  ;  and,  whatever  dispositions  have  been  made 
for  the  distribution  of  hinterlands,  they  can  only  apply 
to  those  which  had  not  previously  received  effective  oc- 
cupation. Between  1890  and  1896301116  slow  progress 
was  made  in  the  endeavours  to  set  up  a  caravan  trade 
between  Rhadames  and  Tatawin,  the  southernmost 
Tunisian  outpost.  But  the  death  of  the  Marquis  de 
Mores  at  the  hands  of  the  Tuaregs  produced  strained 
relations  which  have  never  been  healed  up,  and  now 
the  attempt  has  been  virtually  abandoned. 

Rhadames   is  a  little  town  of  some  8,000 

Rhadames.  . 

souls,  with  an  oasis  of  less  than  200  acres  and 
60,000  palm  trees,  which  produce  indifferent  dates. 
The  town  has  a  more  prosperous  colony  sixty  miles  to 
the  Kast,  at  the  oasis  of  Derj,  where  there  are  450,000 
palm  trees.  The  Turkish  garrison  at  Rhadames  con- 
sists of  100  infantry  and  20  cavalry.  The  chief  goods 
to  be  found  in  the  markets  of  Rhadames  are — (i) 
European  cotton  goods,  woollens,  silks,  glass,  sugar, 
etc.  ;  (2)  Tunisian  and  Tripolitan  woollen  stuffs,  made- 
up  clothes,  carpets,  sheshias,  and  embroideries  ;  (3) 
Soudanese  ivory,  ostrich  feathers,  wax,  gums,  silks, 


262  TUNISIA 

scents,  gold  dust,  and  the  tanned  skins  of  buffaloes, 
antelopes,  etc.  As  the  caravans  are,  for  the  most  part, 
loaded  and  unloaded  at  Rhadames,  the  merchants 
there,  who  make  great  profits  as  middle-men,  would 
not  by  any  means  welcome  the  appearance  of  rival 
traders  from  Tunisia,  or  the  passage  towards  the  in- 
terior of  caravans  which  had  been  made  up  elsewhere. 
They  therefore  constitute  an  important  menace  to  the 
designs  of  the  French. 

Some  360  miles  south  of  Rhadames,  in 
the  centre  of  the  Tuareg  country,  is  Rhat, 
the  most  important  market  of  the  Sahara,  if  not  of 
the  world.  A  great  fair  is  held  there  in  the  winter, 
and  traders  come  thither  from  every  quarter  of  the 
Sahara — from  Timbuctoo,  from  Lake  Chad,  from 
Kano  and  the  Niger,  from  Morocco,  Tripoli,  Ben- 
ghazi, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  Nubia  and  Lybia. 
It  has  some  5,000  inhabitants,  and  is  surrounded  by  a 
pretty  little  oasis.  The  Turks  have  had  a  garrison 
of  fifty  foot  soldiers  there  since  1854.  In  1886  the 
Tuaregs  massacred  this  garrison  ;  but  it  was  replaced 
by  another  in  the  following  year,  when  an  arrange- 
ment was  arrived  at  between  the  Tuaregs  and  the 
Turks. 

-rijg  Some  20,000  Tuaregs  occupy,  nomadically 

Lregs>  but  effectually,  a  country  as  large  as  France. 
They  have  a  reputation  for  courage  and  fierce  intracta- 
bility. Between  their  tribes  they  are  said  to  act  gener- 
ously and  even  chivalrously,  but  with  strangers  there 
is  no  cruelty  or  treachery  too  bad  for  them.  There  is 
a  long  list  of  travellers  who  have  succumbed  to  them 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE  263 

during  the  last  thirty  years,  and  the  only  way  ot 
passing  through  their  country  in  safety,  is  to  proceed 
with  a  large  and  well-armed  escort,  turning  neither  to 
the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left  and  mistrusting  every 
proposal  which  may  come  from  them.  They  exact  a 
tribute  from  every  one  who  passes,  and,  if  it  were 
possible  to  trust  them,  this  tribute  would  be  well 
earned  as  the  price  of  protection.  But  their  character 
is  such  that  all  who  have  had  anything  to  do  with 
them  despair  of  ever  being  able  to  repose  the  least 
confidence  in  them.  This  is  probably  their  best  safe- 
guard, and  they  wisely  realize  that  any  terms  with 
France  would  inevitably  lead  to  their  subjection.  The 
French  are  never  tired  of  scheming  to  accomplish 
this  last  and  most  necessary  preliminary  to  their 
establishment  of  a  caravan  line  ;  but  I  am  convinced 
that  this  line  is  only  one  more  of  the  many  mirages 
which  are  called  up  by  too  long  a  contemplation  of 
the  ever  fascinating  desert. 

O 

Agricultural      Most    colonists,   except  the   very   poorest, 
lds'    come   to  Tunisia   with   the   intention   of   in- 
vesting in  land   and  employing   the   natives   to  work 
it  for  their  benefit.     The  methods  in  vooaie  are  either 

o 

(i)  to  hire  labourers  and  superintend  them  person- 
ally, or  (2)  to  let  out  the  land  to  natives  in  return  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  profits.  Local  use  specifies 
five  elements  for  the  cultivation  of  land  :  capital, 
cattle,  agricultural  implements,  labour,  and  the  land 
itself.  The  purchaser,  therefore,  providing  four  out 
of  the  five  requirements,  stipulates  for  four-fifths  of 
the  proceeds,  and  natives  are  easily  induced  to  accept 


264  TUNISIA 

these  oppressive  terms,  giving  their  whole  labour  and 
rarely  contriving  to  earn  more  than  ^5  a  year.  Day 
labourers,  when  they  are  employed,  are  paid  from  8d. 
to  is.  a  day,  or,  at  harvest  time,  from  lod.  to  is.  §d. 
Others  are  hired  at  245-.  the  month,  or  from  ^5  to 
£10  the  year ;  those  who  engage  for  less  than  a  year 
having  no  certitude  of  regular  employment.  Those 
who  accept  the  khammes,  or  fifth  of  the  returns,  often 
sell  themselves  into  something  scarcely  distinguishable 
from  slavery.  The  colonist  gives  them  a  certain  sum 
down  and  they  must  give  him  all  their  time  and  labour 
until  the  debt  shall  have  been  wiped  off.  Another 
system,  known  as  mrharsa,  is  sometimes  accepted.  By 
this  the  colonist  provides  the  land,  and  the  labourer  en- 
gages himself  to  plant  and  tend  olives,  fig-trees,  orange- 
trees,  cactus,  or  whatever  other  plants  the  colonist 
may  select,  in  view  of  a  partition  on  ungenerous  lines. 
Things,  however,  often  right  themselves  through  the 
fact  that  the  labourer  is  compelled  to  demand  further 
advances  before  he  can  complete  his  engagement. 

Agricultural  methods  are  still  very  primitive  in 
Tunisia.  In  the  more  prosperous  parts  a  horse  or 
a  camel  is  used  for  ploughing,  but  elsewhere  it  is 
not  unusual  to  find  an  unfortunate  woman  harnessed 
to  it  in  company  with  a  milch  cow  or  even  a  donkey. 

Tunisia  comprises  some  30,000,000  acres  and  a 
population  of  1,800,000  inhabitants.  About  5,000,000 
acres  are  still  unappropriated.  Of  those  which  are 
appropriated,  a  large  proportion  are  held  in  common 
by  the  tribes  of  the  south,  and  most  of  the  remainder 
are  owned  in  common  by  families  which  have  not 


TRADE   AND   AGRICULTURE  265 

exercised  the  right  of  subdivision.  1,250,000  acres 
are  state  domains,  a  large  proportion  of  which  have 
not  been  cultivated  at  all. 

The  most  noteworthy  form  of  land  tenure 

Habbus. 

is  that  known  as  the  habbu>  a  kind  of  mort- 
main, which  at  one  time  embraced  fully  a  quarter  of 
the  soil  of  Tunisia.  Originally  habbus  were  constituted 
only  for  religious  or  philanthropic  purposes,  but  later 
on  there  was  no  necessity  for  them  to  have  any  refer- 
ence to  a  pious  work.  In  that  case  they  were  known 
as  private  habbus,  the  document  of  incorporation 
enumerating  the  person  or  persons  benefitting  by 
them,  and  the  property  only  reverting  to  beneficent 
objects  on  the  failure  of  all  male  issue.  In  any  case 
the  habbus  were  for  ever  inalienable,  but  this  caused 
such  grave  inconveniences  that  the  Beys  were  forced 
to  decree  that  they  might  be  exchanged  for  other  land, 
or  might  even  be  let  for  long  leases  so  long  as  there 
was  no  actual  sale.  These  leases  are  known  as  cnzcls, 
and  the  owner  of  them  is  held  to  pay  every  year  a 
sum  of  money  to  the  owner  of  the  habbn.  lie  is 
not  a  tenant,  for  his  title  is  perpetual  ;  he  is  not  an 
owner,  for  the  habbus  are  inalienable.  Man)' 
colonists,  who  have  secured  Iiabbn  land,  hope  that 
some  day  the  Government  may  be  induced  to  turn 
their  fixed  tenure  into  freeholds. 

The  supply  of  water   is  naturally   one  of 

Wells. 

the  chief  considerations  in  Africa,  and 
special  effort  is  directed  towards  the  creation  of 
wells.  They  are  generally  very  deep  and  may  be 
observed  in  every  part  of  the  country,  surmounted 


266  TUNISIA 

by  scaffolding  and  masonry.  There  is  a  kind  of 
pulley  with  skin  buckets  at  one  end,  and  a  horse 
or  camel  at  the  other.  The  animal  is  driven  along  a 
pathway  until  the  full  buckets  issue  from  the  mouth 
of  the  well,  when  he  is  driven  back  to  recommence 
the  operation.  At  most  of  the  wells,  particularly  at 
periods  when  extensive  irrigation  is  necessary,  this 
process  may  be  observed  from  early  morning  until 
past  sunset. 

Huge  hedges   of  cactus   are   one  of  the 

Cactus. 

most  familiar  features  of  the  landscape  of 
Tunisia.  The  fruit,  which  is  as  tasteless  and  refresh- 
ing as  the  water  melon,  is  largely  consumed  during 
the  hot  weather,  and  the  green  rackets  are,  in  spite 
of  their  prickles,  very  popular  fodder  with  all  kinds 
of  cattle.  An  acre  of  ground  will  produce  20,000  Ibs. 
of  fruit,  or  from  25,000  to  30,000  Ibs.  of  fodder, — one 
or  the  other,  for  if  the  rackets  are  sacrificed  there 
will  be  no  Barbary  figs.  But  the  growth  of  rackets 
for  fodder  is  considered  the  more  profitable. 

Great  efforts  are  being1  made  in  the   in- 

Vines. 

terests  of  viticulture  in  Tunisia,  but  so  far 
the  wine  is  so  exceedingly  nasty  that  it  is  scarcely 
of  any  value,  even  for  adulterating  the  claret  of  the 
English  middle  classes.  Phylloxera  has  not  yet  made 
its  appearance  in  Tunisia — a  great  proof  of  the  good 
taste  of  the  microbe — and  at  one  time  there  were  very 
sanguine  hopes  for  the  prospects  of  Tunisian  wine- 
making  ;  but,  just  as  everything  seemed  to  have  been 
put  into  order,  the  French  vineyards  began  to  recover 
from  their  maladies  and  those  of  Tunisia  had  perforce 


TRADE   AND  AGRICULTURE  267 

to  return  to  their  obscurity.  The  heavy  fall  in  the 
price  of  wine  (20^.  to  los.  and  even  8s.  per  22  gallons) 
four  or  five  years  ago  made  it  almost  impossible  to 
produce  wine  in  Tunisia  at  a  profit ;  but  since  then 
there  have  been  ups  and  downs  in  the  trade,  and  it 
has  been  thought  worth  while  to  persevere.  One 
reason  why  better  success  has  not  been  obtained  is 
that  the  Tunisian  vine  is  much  larger  than  the  French, 
and  accordingly  requires  different  treatment,  which 
the  French  workmen  have  obstinately  refused  to  give 
it.  There  is  also  some  difficulty  in  the  manufacture 
of  wine  in  Tunisia  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  reducing 
the  temperature  during  fermentation.  For  this  special 
and  costly  apparatus  is  required,  and  the  local 
wine-makers  have  put  off  the  expenditure  as  long  as 
they  could. 

The    presence    of    olive-trees    in    Tunisia 

Olives-        11  i  i  i  r       i 

has  been  noted  ever  since  the  days  of    the 
Romans,   and    the   latest    census    mves    no    less  than 

o 

1 2,000,000  trees,  the  tax  upon  which  constitutes  a 
large  proportion  of  the  national  revenue.  Some 
2,300,000  trees  are  kabbu  property,  in  many  cases 
endlessly  subdivided.  A  French  friend  told  me  that 
he  had  recently  bought  the  35th  part  of  a  tree 
on  cnzel  for  a  very  few  francs,  more  as  a  joke  than 
anything  else,  in  order  to  acquire  an  interest  in  the 
agricultural  destinies  of  the  country.  There  are  some 
twenty  different  kinds  of  olives  in  the  Regency,  the 
oil  they  give  becoming  better  and  better  as  they  come 
further  south.  The  improved  procedure  introduced 
by  the  French  in  oil-making  has  nearly  doubled  the 


268  TUNISIA 

price  of  Tunisian  oils.  The  planting  of  olive-trees  is 
not,  however,  to  be  recommended  to  colonists  desirous 
of  obtaining  a  quick  return  for  their  investment,  as  an 
olive-tree  only  begins  to  bear  fruit  when  it  is  ten  years 
old  and  does  not  reach  maturity  until  it  is  twenty.  A 
long  time  must  elapse  before  the  oil  production  of 
Tunisia  can  have  a  serious  effect  upon  the  European 
market.  At  present  the  annual  production  of  France 
is  300,000  quintals  of  oil  worth  ,£1,720,000,  that  of 
Italy  1,300,000  quintals  worth  £7,800,000,  that  of 
Spain  3,000,000  quintals  worth  £11,600,000,  while 
that  of  Tunisia  is  200,000  quintals  worth  £"600,000, 
a  price  which  suffices  to  show  how  marked  is  the 
inferiority  of  the  Tunisian  oil. 

The  fishing  industry  has  long  been  one  of 

Fisheries.  .  .   .  ° 

the  foremost  in  1  unisia,  and  now  affords 
employment  to  over  60,000  persons.  The  best 
fisheries  have,  however,  been  appropriated  by  French 
companies,  and  great  care  is  taken  that  the  natives 
shall  enjoy  little  or  none  of  the  profits  of  their  craft. 
All  the  fisheries  are  readily  granted  as  concessions 
to  any  one  whom  the  French  Government  may  con- 
sider deserving  of  its  favour.  There  is  scarely  any 
control  over  the  methods  employed,  which  are  accor- 
dingly of  the  most  recklessly  extravagant  character, 
entirely  without  consideration  for  the  future  of  the 
fisheries.  These  are  so  wealthy  that  such  methods 
do  not  afford  an  immediate  menace,  but  at  the 
present  rate  there  is  little  prospect  of  many  fish 
surviving  the  present  generation.  The  company 
which  has  appropriated  the  fishing  rights  in  the 


TRADE   AND  AGRICULTURE  269 

Lake  of  Bizerta  catches  several  thousand  pounds' 
weight  every  day,  and  exports  the  greater  part 
of  it  direct  to  Marseilles.  Two  Frenchmen  who 
hold  the  concession  of  fishing  in  the  Lake  of  Tunis 
catch  3,000  pounds'  weight  a  day.  All  along  the 
Eastern  coast  of  the  Regency  fishing  is  more  or  less 
abundant,  and  at  Mahdia  for  forty  days  in  May  and 
June  every  year  no  less  than  500,000  Ibs.  of  a  kind 
of  sardine  are  caught  and  salted  for  exportation  to 
Austria,  Italy,  and  Greece.  From  Cape  Kadija  to 
Zarzis  there  is  a  stretch  of  coast  which  has  no  equal 
as  a  fishery  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  and  in 
the  Kerkenna  islands,  opposite  Sfax,  practically  the 
whole  population  is  given  up  to  fishing,  and  contrives 
to  prosper  in  spite  of  the  constant  depredations  of 
Italian  and  Greek  poachers.  The  existence  of  a  tide 
in  the  Gulf  of  Gabes  is  of  particular  assistance  to 
the  fishing. 

While  I  was  at  Tunis  I  was  constantly  struck  by 
the  great  superiority  of  the  fish  over  that  which  is 
found  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mediterranean.  As 
a  rule  they  were  precisely  the  same  kind  but  of  in- 
finitely better  quality.  There  was  a  John  Dory  which, 
when  perfectly  fresh,  was  as  different  from  the  John 
Dory  we  know  in  England  as  gold  from  dross. 

Three    kinds    of    sponges    are     found    oil 

Sponges.  .    .  .  . 

I  unisia,  varying  in  price  from  a  shilling  to  a 
sovereign,  and  arc  taken  in  three  different  ways.  The 
Arabs  and  Sicilians  use  a  kind  of  trident  at  the  end 
of  a  pole,  sometimes  as  much  as  fifteen  yards  long. 
If  there  be  the  slightest  ripple,  it  is  impossible  to  see 


270  TUNISIA 

through  the  water.  Until  twenty  years  ago  these 
fishermen  secured  the  necessary  calmness  by  pouring  a 
few  drops  of  oil  on  the  surface  of  the  water ;  but  this 
was  an  extravagant  plan,  and  now  they  generally  use  a 
tin  cylinder,  some  twelve  by  twenty-four  inches,  pro- 
vided at  the  end  with  a  piece  of  glass.  By  dipping 
this  below  the  surface  of  the  water,  it  is  possible 
to  see  the  bottom  as  clearly  as  if  the  surface  were 
perfectly  calm.  Having  made  out  where  the  best 
sponges  are,  a  fisherman  halts  his  boat  and  plunges 
his  trident  straight  down,  when  a  slight  twist  suffices 
to  uproot  and  secure  a  sponge.  The  Greeks  use  a 
gangava,  or  drag,  which  is  a  kind  of  frame  with  a  net 
in  the  middle.  Three  sides  of  it  are  of  wood  and  the 
other  is  a  strong  iron  bar.  It  is  attached  to  a  rope  and 
dragged  along  the  bottom  of  the  sea  by  the  motion 
of  the  boat,  tearing  up  the  sponges  and  collecting 
them  in  the  net.  As  soon  as  it  is  full,  the  boat 
becomes  difficult  to  propel,  the  net  is  brought  up, 
and  its  contents,  consisting  of  sponges,  all  manner 
of  shells,  and  even  large  fish,  are  taken  out  and 
sorted  before  the  drag  is  let  down  again.  This 
is  a  very  extravagant  and  destructive  method  of 
fishing,  for  it  roots  up  a  great  many  sponges  which 
it  does  not  collect.  The  Turkish  Government  has 
long  forbidden  it  at  Tripoli,  but  in  Tunisian  waters 
it  is  only  restricted  by  a  close  season  in  March,  April 
and  May.  The  natives  of  Jerba  and  the  Kerkenna 
islands  prefer  the  more  sporting  method  of  diving. 
This  only  takes  place  at  a  depth  of  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet,  and  each  diver  is  provided  with  a  knife,  to 


271 

defend  himself  against  sharks,  and  with  a  net  at 
his  waist  to  carry  the  sponges.  1000  natives, 
700  Greeks  and  800  Sicilians  are  engaged  upon 
the  sponge  fisheries,  and  the  Government  takes  care 
to  collect  a  substantial  revenue  from  their  labours, 
over  ^4,000  a  year  being  paid  for  the  right  to  fish, 
besides  a  duty  of  nearly  2d.  the  Ib.  on  every  sponge 
exported. 

Some  65,000  Ibs.  of  pulps  are  sold  every 
year  at  Sfax  alone,  and  their  collection  forms 
an  important  industry  all  along  the  coast.  They 
are  taken  by  divers,  or  by  spearing,  or  in  wicker- 
work  traps.  The  pulp  is  an  evil-looking  and  evil- 
tasting  mollusc,  which  is  largely  consumed  in  Greece, 
particularly  during  Lent.  When  it  has  been  caught, 
a  hard  membrane  is  removed  from  its  head,  which 
is  then  beaten  with  several  hundreds  of  blows,  to 
complete  the  killing  of  the  creature  and  render  its 
flesh  somewhat  less  like  a  brick-bat.  Then  any 
remains  of  sea-water  are  squeezed  out  and  it  is  hung 
up  to  dry  in  the  sun. 


Chapter    IX 
JUSTICE   AND   EDUCATION 

Justice — The  Court  of  the  Kadi — The  Governor  01  Tunis — Public 
Executions — Prisons — The  Right  of  Sanctuary — Capital  Punish- 
ment— The  Paradise  of  Criminals — Police  Precautions — Modern 
Solomons— Education— Sadiki  College — Alawi  College. 

IN  each  district  of  Tunisia  the  administration 

Justice.          .....  _  ... 

of  justice  is  entrusted  to  Kadis  for  civil  and 
Kaids  for  criminal  matters.  Justice  is  still  nominally 
free,  but  practically  very  expensive  owing  to  the 
corruption  of  the  officials.  The  Koran  is  the  civil 
and  criminal  code  of  the  natives.  In  theory  the 
Bey  is  the  supreme  court  of  appeal,  but  he  has 
delegated  this  function  to  two  tribunals,  known  as 
the  Uzara  and  the  Sharaa.  The  Uzara  is  con- 
cerned with  everything  excepting  real  property  and 
probate.  All  its  decisions  require  ratification  by  the 
Bey,  who  goes  through  them  with  some  care.  For 
personal  injuries  there  is  a  regular  tariff  of  blood 
money  like  the  Germanic  Wehrgeld,  but  in  the  case 
of  murder  the  relatives  cannot  be  compelled  to  accept 
it.  The  Sharaa  is  a  religious  tribunal  for  appeals 
from  the  judgments  of  the  Kadis  on  matters  outside 
the  province  of  the  Uzara. 

Besides  the  native  tribunals  there  are  also  French 

273 


JUSTICE   AND   EDUCATION 

courts,  to  which  all  Europeans  are  amenable  now 
that  the  capitulations,  which  gave  them  the  benefit 
of  their  own  consular  courts,  have  been  weakly 
abandoned.  There  are  at  present  two  tribunals  of 
first  instance  and  ten  magistrates'  courts  in  the 
principal  localities  ;  in  live  others  the  controleur  civil 
exercises  judicial  authority.  The  French  themselves 
admit  that  the  legal  procedure  they  have  introduced 
into  Tunisia  is  far  too  costly  and  cumbersome  for 
the  needs  of  the  place,  and  there  are  many  complaints 
that  there  is  no  French  court  of  appeal. 
The  court  of  There  are  few  things  so  delightfully  old 
fashioned  and  picturesque  as  a  Muhatnmadan 
court  of  justice.  I  entered  a  large  hall,  painted  black 
and  white,  with  pillars  striped  liked  zebras.  A  crowd 
of  men,  Europeans  and  Jews  as  well  as  Arabs,  were 
lounging  about  in  the  centre.  Four  draped  recesses, 
suggesting  "  cosy  corners  "  or  the  shrines  of  a  temple, 
were  railed  off  and  guarded  by  native  policemen. 
In  each  recess  was  a  long  divan,  where  a  Kadi  sat 
in  gorgeous  robes  with  his  legs  tucked  away  under 
him  and  only  a  bit  of  bright  yellow  slipper  peeping 
out.  In  front  of  him  was  a  long  wooden  bench  where 
the  litigants  sat  facing  him.  Most  of  them  were  Arabs, 

O  <T> 

but  occasionally  a  Jew  or  an  European  plaintiff  was 
among  them.  The  Kadi  wore  a  very  grave  but  very 
benevolent  expression.  In  his  hand  was  a  string 
of  beads,  which  he  fingered  very  slowly  with  a  slight 
clicking  sound.  Otherwise  he  remained  motionless 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  time:,  excepting  when  he 
raised  his  hands  aloft  as  a  sign  of  astonishment  or 

T 


274  TUNISIA 

displeasure.  He  listened  very  patiently  to  what  each 
party  had  to  say  and  himself  spoke  very  little,  asking 
only  a  few  questions,  and  then  pronouncing  a  summary 
judgment.  Each  case  took  three  minutes  or  less  to 
dispose  of.  Once  I  caught  his  eye  fixed  upon  me 
with  a  very  severe  expression,  so  I  went  off  to  the 
other  side  and  watched  another  Kadi,  a  musty  old 
man  with  a  green  turban.  His  procedure  seemed 
almost  identical,  except  that  he  raised  his  hands  much 
oftener,  somehow  reminding  me  of  a  marionette. 
The  Kadis  on  one  side  of  the  hall  give  judgment 
according  to  the  Malekite  rite,  those  on  the  other 
side  according  to  the  Hanefite.  As  one  is  much 
stricter  than  the  other  it  is  not  infrequent  for 
a  defendant,  who  is  dissatisfied  with  a  judgment 
according  to  one  rite,  to  go  across  the  hall  and  have 
his  case  tried  over  again  according  to  the  other  rite. 
When  I  came  outside,  I  saw  a  fine  white  mule  tied 
to  the  door-way,  richly  caparisoned  with  gold  and 
silver  embroidery,  and  was  told  that  it  was  waiting 
there  for  the  Kadi. 

TUG  Governor     After  visiting  the  native  courts  of  justice, 
of  Tunis.    ]y[rs   Vivian  and  I  strolled  in  with  our  oruide 

o 

to  the  palace  where  the  Governor  of  Tunis  directs 
the  administration  of  the  native  police.  I  thought 
we  were  merely  going  to  be  shown  something  more 
of  the  machinery  of  native  justice,  and  I  was  some- 
what taken  aback  when  I  found  that  we  were  beine 

o 

conducted  straight  into  the  Governor's  private  room. 
"  These  are  the  chambers  of  the  various  police 
inspectors,"  said  the  guide,  "  and  this  is  the 


JUSTICE   AND   EDUCATION 

Governor."  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  story 
of  the  undergraduate  who  took  a  party  of  ladies 
across  a  college  court  and,  after  pointing  to  a  window 
and  saying,  "  Those  are  the  Dean's  rooms,"  threw  up  a 
pebble,  adding,  as  an  angry  face  peered  out,  "  and  that 
is  the  Dean."  However,  the  Governor  seemed  to 
take  it  quite  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  I  learned  after- 
wards that  all  tourists  who  go  the  round  of  the  palace 
are  taken  in  for  a  chat  and  a  cup  of  coffee  with  him. 
He  made  us  very  welcome,  and,  seating  us  beside  him 
on  a  divan,  proceeded  to  converse,  the  guide  acting 
as  interpreter.  After  the  usual  compliments  about 
the  intense  pleasure  it  gave  him  to  receive  us,  he 
inquired  how  we  liked  Tunis.  "  Tell  him,"  said  Mrs. 
Vivian,  "  that  I  find  it  very  interesting."  The  guide, 
who  combined  the  stupidity  and  mischief  of  his  class  to 
an  extraordinary  degree,  promptly  told  the  Governor 
that  she  found  him  very  interesting.  We  could  not 
make  out  at  first  why  he  seemed  so  much  taken  aback 
by  a  commonplace  remark,  but  when  he  replied  "  Old 
men  are  always  interesting,"  we  could  only  say  that 
we  should  never  have  imagined  that  he  was  old. 
Public  Exe-  I  had  keen  looking  forward  to  attending 

cutlons  11-  •  i  it 

a  public  execution  one  morning,  but  the 
disappointing  information  of  a  reprieve  came  in  at 
the  last  moment.  Formerly  the  public  were  allowed 
to  throng  round  the  very  steps  of  the  scaffold,  and 
the  photographers  of  the  town  sell  gruesome  pictures 
of  all  details  ;  but  now  there  is  a  military  cordon,  and 
only  specially  favoured  spectators  are  admitted  within 
it.  More  interestincf  than  the  execution  itself  are  the 


276 


TUNISIA 


A    1'UBLIC    EXECUTION    (l). 


preliminaries,  which 
take  place  in  the  hall 
of  justice  at  the  Bardo 
Palace.  The  Bey  seats 
himself  on  his  great  gilt 
throne  upholstered  with 
red  velvet,  and  the 
murderer  is  brought 
before  him  to  be  con- 
fronted with  his  victim's 
family.  The  Bey  then 
inquires  of  the  victim's 
family  if  they  are  will- 
ing to  accept  the  blood- 
money.  It  is  a  sum  of 
about  ^29,  to  be  paid 
by  the  murderer ;  but 
if,  as  is  generally  the 
case,  he  does  not  pos- 
sess so  much  money, 
the  Bey  makes  it  up 
out  of  his  private  purse. 
It  is,  however,  unusual 
for  the  money  to  be  ac- 
cepted, and  the  family 
which  thus  forwent 
vengeance  would  ex- 
pose itself  to  consider- 
able contumely.  But 
the  Bey,  like  the  Sul- 
tan and  the  Emperor 


A    I't'lU.IC    KXl-XT'TION    (2). 
278 


JUSTICE   AND   EDUCATION 


279 


of  Austria,  has  a  great 
aversion  from  taking 
life,  even  in  the  case  of 
murderers,  and  he  al- 
ways does  his  best  to 
persuade  the  family  to 
accept.  If  they  remain 
obdurate,  he  turns  his 
back  and  pretends  not 
to  know  what  is  about 
to  happen.  The  mur- 
derer is  then  taken  out 
and  hanged.  The  Bey 
is  now  a  very  old  man, 
and  he  shrinks  more 
and  more  from  the  ne- 
cessity of  coming  to  the 
Bardo  from  his  palace 
at  Marsa,  some  twelve 
miles  away,  for  these 
functions.  So  pressure 
is  always  brought  to 
bear  on  the  victim's 
family  some  days  before 
the  time  fixed  for  the 
execution.  When 
blood-money  is  ac- 
cepted, the  murderer  is 
sent  to  penal  servitude 
for  life.  The  Moslem 
penal  code  is  based  on 


28o  TUNISIA 

the  Mosaic  dispensation.  Does  a  man  gouge  out 
another's  eye,  cut  off  his  hand,  or  take  his  life,  he 
must,  unless  pecuniary  compensation  be  accepted,  pay 
for  his  crime  with  eye,  hand,  or  life. 

Had  I  stayed  in  Tunis  a  few  days  longer,  I  should 
have  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  a  triple  execu- 
tion. The  victims  were  three  out  of  a  band  of  four 
Arabs,  who  committed  murder  and  highway  robbery 
near  Tozeur  in  August,  1897.  The  fourth  man 
was  killed  at  the  time  of  the  crime,  and  these  three 
were  condemned  on  the  iith  of  April,  1898.  In  the 
case  of  a  premeditated  crime  like  this,  blood-money 
is  not  admitted,  so  the  presence  of  the  Bey  was 
a  mere  formality.  He  arrived  at  the  Bardo  by 
special  train  at  8.20  a.m.,  and  proceeded  at  once 
to  the  throne  room,  where,  after  the  various  high 
functionaries  of  the  court  had  gone  through  the 
ceremony  of  kissing  hands,  the  three  criminals  were 
brought  before  him.  Accordino;  to  usao;e  the  three 

o  o  o 

men  made  a  formal  appeal  for  mercy,  though  they 
knew  full  well  that  there  was  no  hope.  The  Bey 
looked  at  them  sadly,  but  it  was  with  a  firm  voice 
that  he  exclaimed,  for  all  answer,  "  Turn  them  toward 
the  gate  of  the  Bardo,"  which  is  the  local  euphemism 
for  "  Let  the  law  take  its  course."  The  men  were 
then  conducted  to  a  room  in  the  basement,  where 
their  eyes  were  bandaged  and  their  hands  fastened 
with  iron  padlocks,  after  which  they  were  led  out 
to  be  hanged  in  the  open.  The  youngest  of  the 
culprits,  who  was  only  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
seemed  inert  with  fear,  and  his  execution  took  no 


JUSTICE   AND  EDUCATION  281 

less  than  eleven  minutes  to  effect.  But  the  other 
two,  aged  twenty-six  and  thirty-five  respectively, 
displayed  all  the  courage  begotten  of  Moslem  fatalist 
doctrines.  In  accordance  with  a  new  regulation. 

o 

the  crowd  was  kept  off  by  a  military  cordon ;  but 
there  were  many  officials,  pressmen,  and  privileged 
spectators  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the 
scaffold. 

One     of     mv     first     requests    from     the 

Prisons. 

Residency  was  for  permission  to  visit  the 
prisons.  I  was  told,  with  a  great  show  of  courtesy, 
that  I  might  see  anything  I  chose,  but  each  time 
that  I  recalled  my  wish  to  see  the  prisons  I  was 
put  off.  I  persevered  for  nearly  three  months,  but 
was  always  met  with  some  ingenious  excuse.  This 
served  to  strengthen  my  belief  in  the  statement, 
which  was  made  to  me  by  several  disinterested 
residents,  that  the  prisons  are  in  a  disgraceful 
condition. 
The  Right  of  ^s  ^  have  pointed  out,  native  murderers 

cannot  be  reprieved  by  the  Bey,  and  their 
sentences  can  only  be  commuted  if  the  victims' 
families  accept  blood-money.  It  is  still  possible, 
however,  to  secure  absolute  immunity  from  punish- 
ment for  any  crime  by  the  simple  expedient  of 
taking  refuge  in  a  sanctuary.  In  old  days  tin- 
sanctuaries  were  very  numerous,  and  included  not 
only  certain  mosques,  but  also  several  shrines, 
cemeteries,  Koranic  schools,  quarters  of  Tunis,  and 
villages.  The  number  of  these  has  now  been  largely 
reduced,  but  there  are  still  many  places  where  the 


282  TUNISIA 

Bey's  writ  does  not  run.  A  few  years  ago,  one 
of  the  sights  of  Tunis  was  a  refugee,  who  occupied 
a  meadow  in  sanctuary  just  off  a  boulevard  near 
the  Kasbah.  He  had  been  there  sixteen  years,  his 
friends  brought  him  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  his 
solitude  was  shared  by  a  cow.  Though  he  had 
murdered  a  man,  no  one  attempted  to  violate  his 
sanctuary.  But  the  family  of  his  victim  had  neither 
forgiven  nor  forgotten.  The  dead  man's  sons  kept 
constant  guard,  day  and  night,  near  the  entrance  to 
the  sanctuary,  lest  perchance  the  murderer,  lulled  by 
a  false  sense  of  security,  should  one  day  venture 
forth.  Their  sons,  too,  as  they  grew  up,  took  their 
turns  at  a  watch,  which  they  were  taught  to  consider 
a  sacred  trust.  Surely,  among  no  other  people  might 
we  look  for  so  patient  and  relentless  a  vengeance,  thus 
handed  down  to  the  third  generation.  At  last,  after 
sixteen  years  of  ceaseless  vigilance  on  both  sides, 
the  watchers  were  rewarded.  The  refugee's  cow 
broke  her  tether  one  evening,  and  wandered  out 
of  the  sanctuary.  Her  owner  peered  out  after  her 
and  saw  no  one  about — no  one  whom  he  could  ask 
to  brinor  her  back  and  no  one  whom  he  need  fear. 

c> 

The  cow  was  strolling  down  the  empty  road,  and 
her  loss  would  have  been  a  serious  one  to  him.  He 
determined  to  run  the  risk.  But  no  sooner  had  he 
gone  ten  yards  outside  than  his  enemies  sprang  out 
from  their  ambush,  triumphantly  secured  him,  and 
carried  him  off  to  prison.  The  affair  created  an 
immense  sensation.  In  view  of  the  long  period 
which  had  elapsed  since  the  crime,  unheard-of  efforts 


JUSTICE   AND   EDUCATION  283 

were  made  on  the  criminal's  behalf.  The  Bey,  the 
Muftis,  the  Sheikh-ul-Islam,  and  many  other  prominent 
Moslems  interceded  with  the  victim's  family  to 
induce  them  to  accept  the  blood-money,  but  they 
were  obdurate,  and  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  allow  the  law  to  take  its  course.  The  whole 
family  gathered  round  the  scaffold,  even  the  sick 
rising  from  their  beds  or  being  carried  in  litters, 
to  witness  the  act  of  reparation,  without  which  they 
felt  they  had  been  dishonoured. 

capital  It  is  strange  how  deep-rooted  is  the  sym- 
punismnent.  patjly  between  modern  Italians  and  crime. 
Not  content  with  abolishing  capital  punishment  in  their 
peninsula,  they  spare  no  efforts  to  save  their  murderers 
abroad.  It  was  natural  that  they  should  make 
special  efforts  in  Tunisia,  where  they  fancy  they 
have  lingering  claims  to  share  in  the  Government. 
At  the  time  of  the  late  treaty,  they  succeeded  in 
extorting  a  protocol,  which,  however,  guarantees 
little.  The  French  undertake  therein  that  no  Italian 
subject  shall  be  put  to  death  without  a  special 
reference  to  the  President  of  their  Republic,  who  will 
take  into  consideration  the  state  of  the  law  in  Italy. 
This  protocol  was  understood  to  be  more  or  less 
secret,  but  as  it  has  now  been  published  in  a  Yellow 
Book,  there  can  be  no  harm  in  referring  to  it. 
Nothing  definite  is  promised,  but  the  evident  intention 
is  that  Italian  murderers  shall,  if  possible,  be  reprieved. 
A  case  in  point  arose  not  long  ago,  when  an  Italian 
was  condemned  to  death  for  a  murder  of  particular 
brutality.  The  Unionc,  the  Italian  daily  paper  at 


284  TUNISIA 

Tunis,  though  usually  correct  in  its  attitude,  pro- 
tested vehemently  against  the  condemnation  and 
cited  the  protocol.  This  was  exceedingly  indiscreet, 
for  it  seemed  to  set  up  a  claim  that  there  should 
be  one  law  for  Italians  and  another,  less  generous, 
for  Frenchmen  in  the  Regency.  If  anything  was 
likely  to  turn  the  scale  against  a  reprieve,  it  was 
this  kind  of  contention,  and  though  the  man's  life 
was  spared,  he  had  no  cause  to  thank  the  zeal  of  his 
compatriots. 

me  Paradise  I  mav  c^te  another  case  in  illustration 
^  of  the  temper  of  Italian  justice.  An  Italian, 
recently  arrested  in  Tunis,  was  found  to  have  been 
sentenced,  twelve  months  previously,  to  a  term  of 
twenty  years'  imprisonment  for  murder.  At  first  it 
was  thought  that  he  must  have  escaped,  as  many 
do,  from  the  Italian  penal  colony  at  Pantellaria  hard 
by.  But  it  was  found  on  inquiry  that  he  had 
been  released  at  the  end  of  six  months,  as  a 
reward  for  good  conduct  in  prison,  with  the  sole 
condition  that  he  should  never  set  foot  on  Italian 
soil  again.  Though  evidence  of  tenderness  to 
criminals,  this  can  scarcely  be  commended  as  a 
neighbourly  act. 

Police  Emigration  is  so  often  the  last  refuge  of 
ins'  the  scoundrel  that  colonies  require  special 
safeguards  for  controlling  the  exotic  population.  So 
far  the  Government  of  Tunis  has  found  the  pre- 
sence of  undesirable  Europeans  a  constant  anxiety, 
and  special  precautions  have  now  been  taken.  In 
future,  every  settler  (temporary  tourists,  of  course, 


JUSTICE   AND  EDUCATION  285 

excepted)  must  produce  his  easier  judiciaire.  This 
and  the  carnet  militaire  are  documents  which  answer 
in  Latin  countries  to  the  Russian  passport,  and  I 
understand  that  any  Frenchman,  who  loses  his  carnct 
inilitaire,  is  liable  to  punishment  equally  with  a 
passportless  Russian.  The  easier  judiciaire  is  a 
document  which  any  Frenchman  may  obtain  at  any 
time  from  the  mayor  of  his  birthplace,  to  whom 
all  judicial  condemnations  are  notified.  It  specifies 
the  absence  of  condemnations  or  the  number  of 
condemnations  which  an  individual  has  undergone, 
and  must  be  produced  on  important  occasions.  The 
system  is  useful,  but  troublesome  and  by  no  means 
infallible.  A  friend  of  mine,  who  was  recently 
applying  for  a  post  at  Saint  Cyr,  sent  for  his  easier 
hidiciaire,  and  found  to  his  amazement  that  he  was 
registered  as  having  undergone  a  whole  series  of 
condemnations.  lie  took  it  to  the  authorities  and 
protested  that  he  had  never  come  into  conflict  with  the 
law.  "  Not  only  have  you  been  frequently  sentenced," 
was  the  astounding  reply,  "  but  you  arc  at  this 
present  moment  undergoing  a  sentence  of  six  months' 
imprisonment  for  theft!"  It  turned  out  that  my 
friend  had  had  his  papers  stolen  and  used  by  a 
professional  criminal.  1  lad  the  criminal  not  chanced 
to  be  actually  in  prison  at  the;  time  that  the  papers 
were  called  for,  it  would  have  been  well  nigh 
impossible  to  rectify  the  error,  and  my  friend's  whole 
career  might  have,  been  shattered.  As  it  was,  there 
were  endless  formalities  and  difficulties  before  the 
matter  could  be  set  right,  and  a  special  decree  had 


286  TUNISIA 

to  be  promulgated  in  his  favour.  The  present 
proposal  is  to  call  for  the  casiers  judiciaires  of  the 
citizens  of  countries  where  the  system  is  in  force, 
and  individuals  with  infamous  antecedents  will  be 
invited  to  leave  the  Regency  at  once.  Citizens  of  other 
countries,  such  as  Great  Britain,  may  be  called  on 
to  prove  their  respectability  by  some  other  means. 
Modem  A  recent  French  judgment  may  be  cited 
soiomons.  ^  ^  illustration  of  Arab  matters  and  Gallic 
astuteness.  An  Arab  was  travelling  through  the 
interior  with  his  wife  :  he  was  on  donkey-back,  and 
she  was  afoot.  By  came  a  rich  Arab  on  horseback 
and  offered  her  a  lift  behind  him.  She  accepted, 
and  presently,  in  the  course  of  the  journey,  confided 
that  she  was  unhappily  married.  Her  companion 
proposed  a  plan  by  which  she  might  elope  with  him, 
and  she  agreed  to  it  readily.  Accordingly,  when 
they  came  to  a  branch  road,  they  increased  their 
pace  and  paid  no  heed  to  the  protestations  of  the 
husband,  who  was  soon  left  behind.  He  succeeded 
in  tracking  them  to  the  horseman's  village,  only  to 
find  that  precautions  had  been  taken  against  his 
arrival ;  for  everybody  asserted  that  they  had  known 
the  runaway  pair  for  many  years  as  husband  and 
wife,  and  that  the  real  husband  must  be  an  impudent 
impostor.  The  unfortunate  man  had  recourse  to 
the  French,  who  were  at  first  puzzled  how  to  act  in 
the  face  of  a  village's  unanimous  testimony.  At 
last  a  happy  thought  occurred  to  the  judge.  He 
placed  the  real  husband's  dogs  in  one  room,  those 
of  the  other  man  in  another,  and  confronted  the 


JUSTICE   AND   EDUCATION  287 

woman  with  both.  Arab  dogs  are  very  faithful  to 
their  own  households  and  very  fierce  towards  all 
strangers ;  so,  though  she  did  her  utmost  to  irritate 
her  own  dogs,  they  could  not  be  restrained  from 
fawning  on  her,  and  though  she  lavished  every 
blandishment  toward  the  dogs  of  her  new  home, 
they  barked  and  showed  their  teeth  with  ever- 
increasing  fury.  The  judge  thereupon  ordered  her 
to  be  given  back  to  her  real  husband,  and  he  placarded 
the  village  with  the  following  notice  :  "  The  testimony 
of  one  dog  is  here  more  to  be  believed  than  that 
of  ten  Arabs."  As  the  title  of  dog  is  one  of  the 
Arabs'  worst  terms  of  opprobrium,  this  notice  was 
deemed  a  worse  punishment  than  fines  or  imprison- 
ment. I  commend  this  idyll  to  any  novelist  who 
may  be  in  search  of  a  plot. 

Schools  with  the   Moslems  are  merely  an 

Education. 

adjunct  to  the  mosque,  and  the  teaching 
is  nearly  all  of  a  religious  character.  This  the  French 
have  not  yet  ventured  to  interfere  with,  but  they 
have  set  up  schools  of  their  own  with  the  intention 
of  undermining  the  national  sentiment,  and  have 
endeavoured,  in  the  case  of  the  higher  educational 
establishments  of  the  natives,  by  seizing  the  control 
of  the  finances,  to  obtain  possession  of  the  active 
side  of  the  establishment. 

The  two  principal  establishments  at  Tunis  are  the 
Alawi  and  Sadiki  colleges.     The   Alawi   is  a   normal 

O 

school  for  training  teachers,  and  the  Sadiki  a  superior 
primary  school  for  Arabs.  Before  the  occupation, 
every  attempt  at  education,  except  the  Sadiki  college, 


288 


TUNISIA 


was  more  or  less  ot  a  Christian  missionary  character, 
and,  as  such,  was  viewed  with  suspicion  by  the 
natives.  The  establishment  started  at  Carthage  in 
1880,  under  the  name  of  the  S.  Louis  College,  by 
Cardinal  Lavigerie,  was  transferred  in  the  following 
year  to  Tunis,  under  the  name  of  S.  Charles's  College. 
In  1896  there  were  109  French  scholastic  establish- 
ments in  Tunisia,  attended  by  15,088  boys  and  girls, 


A    MOSLEM    SCHOOL. 


including  2,455  French,  2,457  Italians,  1,572  Maltese, 
4,143  Moslems  (of  whom  21  were  girls),  and  4,055  Jews. 
The  subjects  taught  in  the  schools  under  the  control  of 
the  French  Government  are  the  three  R's,  geography 
(particularly  that  of  the  Mediterranean),  the  history 
of  France  and  North  Africa,  the  French  language, 
science,  drawing,  music,  gymnastics  for  the  boys,  and 
sewing  for  the  girls.  The  method  employed  is  the 
same  as  in  France,  but  the  buildings  still  leave  much 
to  be  desired.  The  establishment  to  which  the 


JUSTICE   AND   EDUCATION  289 

French  attach  most  importance  is  the  Lycee  Carnot, 
which  is  paid  for  by  the  Tunisians,  and  exists  almost 
solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  French  and  the  Jews. 
There  is  also  a  secondary  school  for  girls,  the  chief 
object  of  which  is  to  provide  teachers  for  the  girls' 
schools  throughout  the  Regency. 

sadiki  The  point  about  the  Sacliki  College  is  that 
ege>  the  pupils  are  exclusively  Moslems,  and  the 
attempt  to  imbue  them  with  French  notions  is  craftily 
veiled,  so  as  not  to  alarm  their  susceptibilities.  It 
was  founded  in  1876  by  the  Bey  Sadiki,  and  endowed 
with  a  fortune  confiscated  from  a  disgraced  minister. 
Since  the  French  occupation  it  has  been  governed 
by  a  council  of  eight  Frenchmen,  according  to  the 
methods  in  vogue  at  German  universities.  There 
are  fifty  boarders  and  an  hundred  day  pupils,  none 
of  whom  pay  anything  towards  their  education.  The 
programme  of  work  suffices  to  show  the  scope  of 
the  institution  as  it  is  at  present  managed  :  (i)  The 
French  language,  (2)  French  history  and  geography, 
(3)  general  history  and  geography,  (4)  arithmetic, 
according  to  the  metric  system,  (5)  mathematics,  (6) 
drawing,  and  (7)  physical  science.  Successful  pupils 
generally  find  their  way  into  the  Government  service 
of  the.  Protectorate. 

I  found  the  director  an  agreeable  man,  but  rotten 
to  the  core  with  European  prejudices.  From  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of  my  visit  he  never  ceased 
to  expatiate  upon  the  benefits  of  new-fangled  arrange- 
ments, and  he  was  perfectly  convinced  that  the  intro- 
duction of  washhand-stands  in  the  place  of  a  tap,  and 

U 


290  TUNISIA 

marble-topped  tables  instead  of  a  kind  of  trough  in 
the  dining-hall,  were  civilizing  influences  of  incal- 
culable benefit.  After  showing  me  over  the  whole 
establishment  and  drawing  my  special  attention  to 
the  scientific  laboratories,  he  told  me  that  he  relied 
chiefly  upon  them  for  the  perfection  of  the  civilizing 
work  on  which  he  was  engaged. 

"  You  can  have  no  idea,"  he  said,  "  until  you  have 
tried,  what  an  up-hill  business  it  is.  The  Arabs 
seem  to  have  inside  their  heads" — and  he  tapped 
his  forehead  significantly — "  a  kind  of  clod  which 
renders  them  impervious  to  modern  ideas.  We  may 
contrive  to  disturb  it  a  little,  so  that  one  or  two 
sensible  notions  may  filter  in,  but  to  attempt  to 
dislodge  it  is  hopeless  —  at  any  rate  in  our  time. 
We  can  but  lay  the  foundations  of  a  work  which 
will  take  generations  to  conclude.  It  is  disheartening 
enough,  and  at  times  I  am  tempted  to  despair ;  but 
then  I  reflect  that  civilization,  however  slow  in  its 
operation,  is  irresistible,  and  that  what  I  am  doing 
now  may  some  day  bring  forth  fruit,  the  extent  ot 
which  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  conceive.  Picture 
to  yourself,"  he  went  on,  "  the  average  Arab  believes, 
and  has  been  taught  from  time  immemorial,  that 
the  earth  is  a  flat  sheet,  supported  by  an  elephant, 
which  is  supported  by  a  camel,  which  in  its  turn  is 
supported  by  a  whole  series  of  fabulous  animals. 
You  may  prove  to  him  that  the  earth  is  round  and 
travels  through  space  round  the  sun,  and  he  will 
listen  very  patiently  to  all  you  have  to  say ;  but 
he  begins  by  mistrusting  you,  and  he  goes  away 


JUSTICE   AND  EDUCATION  291 

with  precisely  the  same  opinions  which  he  had 
imbibed  with  his  mother's  milk.  You  see  that  it 
is  all  a  matter  of  religion  with  him,  and  he  always 
suspects  you  of  a  covert  intention  to  wean  him  from 
his  ancient  faith.  I  am  far  from  denying  that  he 
possesses  many  excellent  qualities  and  some  high 
capabilities.  But  these  are  so  distorted  that  they 
are  rather  an  obstacle  than  a  help  to  his  advancement. 
For  instance,  there  is  scarcely  one  amongst  my  pupils 
who  is  not  a  wonderful  draughtsman.  He  will 
produce  the  most  accurate  drawings  and  then  spoil 
everything  by  giving  way  to  some  freak  of  his  fanciful 
imagination.  This  is  particularly  the  case  when  we 
allow  him  the  use  of  the  colour-box,  and  he  takes 
an  inexpressible  delight  in  the  creation  of  strange 
monstrosities,  such  as  a  blue  horse  or  a  scarlet 
elephant  or  a  man  with  seven  heads.  It  is  all 
exquisite  in  its  way,  and  he  is  unrivalled  as  a 
decorator,  for  all  his  conceptions  are  harmonious ; 
but  he  is  not  practical,  and,  most  discouraging  of 
all,  you  can  never  hope  to  make  him  see  why  or 
where  he  is  wrong.  At  present  the  only  result 
of  all  our  attempts  at  education  is  that  those 
who  seem  to  take  most  kindly  to  it  and  profit  by  it 
most,  turn  out  the  worst  rascals  and  the  most 
fanatical  in  their  adherence  to  their  old  habits  and 
customs." 

"  Then     why    not     leave    them    alone  ?  "     I     asked 
innocently. 

He  looked  aghast  for  a  moment,  and  then  replied 
that,    though    he    admitted    the    present   results   were 


292  TUNISIA 

discouraging,    the   blessings   of  civilization   must  un- 
doubtedly make  themselves  felt  in  the  long  run. 

"  Rash  man  !  "  I  exclaimed  ;  "  you  little  know  what 
you  are  doing.  Here  is  a  noble  race  which  has 
thriven  for  centuries  on  ideas  which  you  are  incapable 
of  understanding.  You  may  succeed  in  destroying 
what  you  term  the  '  clod '  in  the  Arab's  mind,  but 
before  you  are  able  to  put  anything  in  to  replace 
it,  you  will  let  loose  upon  the  world  a  conscienceless 
monster,  who  will  not  be  responsible  for  his  actions 
and  may  drift  into  incalculable  mischief.  You  are 
seeking  to  do  on  a  large  scale  what  the  mad  scoun- 
drels of  your  own  revolution  accomplished  in  a  smaller 
sphere  last  century,  and  it  will  serve  your  nation  right 
if  she  be  swept  away  in  the  cataclysm  which  will 
ensue." 

In  old  times  this  college  possessed  vast  habbu 
properties,  but  a  grasping  minister  of  the  Bey 
arranged  for  their  concession  on  enzel  at  a  nominal 
rent  in  perpetuity,  and  even  transferred  the  enzel 
in  some  cases  as  a  charge  upon  some  tumble- down 
shanty  in  the  native  quarter.  The  natural  result 
was  that  the  enzel,  being  higher  than  the  fair  rent 
of  the  shanty,  soon  remained  unpaid,  and  the  property 
of  the  college  degenerated  woefully.  What  now 
remains  has  only  been  rescued  by  a  spoiling  of  the 
spoiler  on  even  more  high-handed  lines. 

In  one  of  the  rooms  I  was  introduced  to  a  number 
of  Arab  notaries,  who  are  still  permitted  to  control 
a  portion  of  the  business  side  of  the  administration 
of  the  college.  As  education  among  the  Moslems 


JUSTICE   AND   EDUCATION  293 

is  considered  a  branch  of  religion,  these  notaries 
were  all  ecclesiastical  dignitaries.  I  was  struck  by 
the  contrast  between  their  effusive  welcome  and  the 
off-hand  manner  of  most  of  the  French  officials  in 
the  college,  but  of  course  I  was  not  permitted  to 
do  more  than  exchange  the  usual  salutations  with 
them.  I  understand,  however,  that  their  share  in 
the  work  has  now  been  reduced  more  or  less  to  a 
farce,  as  is  the  case  with  the  remains  of  Arab 
administration  in  all  the  other  departments  of  the 
state.  I  noticed  that  their  room  had  a  separate 
entrance,  so  that  they  and  those  with  whom  they 
had  business,  might  pass  in  without  entering  the 
college  itself. 

One  of  the  few  relics  of  the  old  establishment  was 
a  strange  box  in  one  of  the  class-rooms,  which  had 
evidently  been  preserved  merely  as  a  curiosity.  It 
was  a  clumsy  but  very  elaborate  apparatus  for  exhibit- 
ing the  effect  of  an  electric  current  in  a  vacuum.  It 
must  have  cost  an  immense  amount  of  money  and 
have  been  of  exceedingly  little  use  except  as  a  toy. 
It  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  tubes  twisted  into 
the  shape  of  Arabic  words,  most  of  which  had  some 
reference  to  the  donor,  and  there  was  an  ingenious 
brass  tongue,  close  to  the  floor,  which  released  the 
electric  current  on  being  surreptitiously  pressed  by 
the  foot.  It  would  no  doubt  have  been  extremely 
useful  for  exhibition  to  a  savage  tribe,  as  a  proof 
of  the  possession  of  magical  powers. 

Aiawi  The  Alawi  College  is  open  to  all  races  and 
ege'  creeds.  Its  special  object  is  the  production 


294  TUNISIA 

of  teachers,  and  Frenchmen  who  come  over  to  teach 
in  the  Regency  generally  begin  with  a  short  course 
of  study  here.  Particular  attention  is  paid  to  manual 
industries. 

Mussulman  schools  concern  themselves  merely  with 
teaching  to  read  and  write  the  Koran,  which  no 
teacher  is  permitted  to  try  to  interpret  to  his  pupils. 
At  the  Mosque  of  the  Olive  at  Tunis  is  the  chief 
Muhammadan  school,  which  recalls  in  many  ways 
the  mediaeval  universities,  where  theology  was  the 
principal  subject.  It  is  administered  by  the  Sheikh- 
ul-Islam,  and  has  in  teachers.  The  pupils  reside 
in  special  establishments,  of  which  there  are  at  Tunis 
22,  containing  450  rooms.  Attached  to  this  univer- 
sity is  a  chair  of  the  Arabic  language  for  the  benefit 
of  Europeans. 


COIN    SHOWING    1-1RST   KNOWN    REFERENCE   TO  CAMKI.S. 

Chapter  X 
BEASTS   AND    FEATHERED    FOWL 

Camels  —  Locusts  —  Dogs  —  Flamingoes  —  Serpents— Scorpions- 
Gazelles. 

I  DO  not  propose  to  attempt  an  exhaustive  survey  of 
the  fauna  of  Tunisia,  but  a  few  notes  on  those 
creatures  which  I  have  observed  may  not  be  without 

interest. 

It  is  by  no  means  easy  to  obtain  trust- 
worthy information  about  camels  in  Africa, 
for  it  is  everybody's  pastime  to  invent  extravagant 
stories  about  them,  just  as  in  America  about  snakes, 
or  with  us  about  dogs  and  cats.  For  instance,  a  lady, 
who  travelled  in  Tunis  some  years  ago,  was  told  that 
young  camels  were  habitually  buried  in  the  sand  up  to 
their  eyes  in  order  to  straighten  their  necks.  This 
she  readily  believed  and  solemnly  inserted  in  her 
inevitable  book  as  a  piece  of  news. 

In  England  we  have  a  certain  reverence  for  the 
camel.  We  stare  at  him  in  the  Zoo  with  as  much 
wonder  as  if  he  were  a  giraffe,  and  we  remember  our 
rides  on  the  strange  beast's  back  when  we  were  short- 
coated.  It  is,  therefore,  rather  a  shock,  on  landing  in 


296  TUNISIA 

North  Africa,  to  find  camels  lounging  about  the  streets 
by  the  score,  and  to  learn  that  they  are  rather  cheaper 
than    horses ;    ^4   to   £7   will    purchase   a  very    fair 
camel,   which  can   easily  carry  a  burthen  of  6bo  Ibs. 
for   thirty    miles   a  day  during  any  number  of  days. 
An  Arab  does  not  think  nearly  as  much  of  his  camel 
as  he   does  of  his    horse,  nor  even  of  his  mule.     It 
is   only  for  the  camel's  strength   and  endurance   that 
he    is    in   such    demand.       These    are    the    qualities 
which  have  earned  him  the  name  of  the  "  ship  of  the 
desert."     As  everybody  knows  he  can  lay  in  a  store  of 
water  in  his  pouch  sufficient  to  last  him  many  days. 
There     is    scarcely    any    food    too     tough     and    un- 
palatable for  his   digestion.      Indeed,  he  has  become 
notorious  for   his   habit  of  feeding  on    the  cactus   or 
prickly  pear.      He  does  not  choose  this  food,  any  more 
than  the  ass  chooses  thistles,  as  a  delicacy  ;  but  people 
talk   of  the  cactus  as  camel's  food  just  as  we  do  of 
thistles  for  asses.     A  camel's  ordinary  food,  however, 
consists  of  bran  with  the  refuse  of  olives  out  of  which 
the  oil  has  been  extracted.     This   is  spread  out  for 
him    in    a    mat.      Directly  he   sees  his  dinner  being 
brought,   he    exhibits    great    excitement,    emitting    a 
strange,  soft,  nasal  sound,  something  between  a  growl 
and  a  very  loud  purr.      He  kneels  down  very  deliber- 
ately, bringing  down  the  fore-legs  first  and  afterwards 
the   hind-legs,   and   burrows    his    nose    into   the  mat. 
A  camel  is  never  in  a  hurry,  even  for  his  meals,  and 
each  mouthful  is  chewed  over  and  over  again,  even 
though  goats  and  kids  and  fowls  may  all  be  poaching 
on    the    provision.     When    specially    hard    work    is 


BEASTS   AND  FEATHERED  FOWL  299 

required,  a  camel  is  given  a  ration  of  barley  and  date- 
stones. 

During  my  stay  at  Tunis,  I  found  it  a  constant 
pleasure  to  wander  into  the  fonduks,  or  camel-yards, 
and  watch  the  animals  at  home  there.  Most  of  those 
I  saw  had  been  employed  in  carrying  coals  and  were 
taking  it  easy  until  they  should  be  needed  again. 
Sometimes  there  would  be  only  half  a  dozen,  some- 
times several  hundreds  in  a  yard.  Those  who  had 
a  tendency  to  wander  had  one  of  their  fore-legs  bent 
right  back  at  the  knee  and  securely  tied,  so  that  they 
could  only  hobble  uncomfortably  on  three  legs.  This 
made  them  look  very  grotesque  and  ungainly,  but 
did  not  actually  hurt  them.  At  halting-places  on  the 
march  they  are  always  tied  up  in  this  way. 

Camels  are  said  to  be  the  most  docile  animals 
imaginable.  It  is  true  that,  when  they  are  walking  the 
streets,  they  shrink  from  contact  with  any  one  and  will 
swerve  aside  if  they  meet  even  a  small  child  or  a 
puppy.  But  this  is  entirely  on  their  own  account,  for 
they  have  a  dread  of  being  touched,  except  by  their 
drivers.  They  do  not  even  like  to  be  stroked.  As 
they  stalk  about  with  their  noses  high  in  air,  and  their 
big,  astonished  eyes  looking  round  superciliously,  they 
seem  to  say  that  they  are  ready  to  carry  big  burdens 
and  go  without  food  or  drink,  but  that  they  will 
tolerate  no  familiarities.  My  first  instinct  whenever 
I  see  an  animal  is  to  go  up  and  pat  it,  but  I  have 
had  to  give  up  the  practice  in  the  case  of  camels, 
as  they  always  show  their  teeth  and  growl  at  me 
most  menacingly.  A  polite  camel-driver  told  me 


300  TUNISIA 

that  this  was  only  because  the  camels  were  accus- 
tomed to  see  none  but  white  clothes.  I  gather, 
however,  that  they  always  resent  being  touched  by  any 
one.  But  it  is  only  at  one  period  of  the  year  that 
they  are  actually  vicious.  Then  the  females  may  be 
known  by  a  foam  which  gathers  round  the  edges  of 
their  mouths.  If  they  bite  you,  it  is  not  with  their 
teeth,  but  with  their  lips,  which  are  exceedingly  strong 
and  produce  a  bruise  such  as  is  obtained  by  slam- 
ming a  door  upon  the  fingers.  Camels  generally  go 
about  wearing  thick  muzzles  of  dried  esparto  grass, 
which  is  used  for  all  manner  of  basket-making  in 
North  Africa;  but  the  muzzles  are  merely  to  prevent 
their  nibbling  the  branches  of  trees  by  the  way. 
When  they  attack  people,  they  generally  trample  upon 
them,  and  the  effect  of  a  hard  battering  with  their 
soft  feet  is  not  unlike  a  tremendous  pummelling  with 
boxing  gloves.  Such  violence  is,  however,  quite  the 
exception.  As  a  rule,  the  camel  is  obedient,  but  not 
intelligent.  He  soon  learns  that  a  tap  on  his  knees 
is  an  order  to  kneel  or  rise,  and  he  is  very  accommo- 
dating when  you  want  to  mount  or  dismount.  But 
he  cannot  for  an  instant  be  compared  to  a  horse 
or  a  dog  for  his  powers  of  thought.  Camels  never 
combine  among  themselves  for  any  purpose  what- 
ever; they  do  not  increase  their  pace  in  the  very 
least  when  they  are  on  their  way  back  to  their  stable ; 
and  they  have  never  been  known  to  sham  lameness 
in  order  to  shirk  work.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
are  models  of  obstinacy.  No  power  on  earth  will 
induce  a  camel  to  do  anything  he  considers  unfair. 


BEASTS   AND  FEATHERED  FOWL  303 

The  proverb  about  the  last  straw  is  no  fiction.  Place 
a  burthen,  which  is  in  the  least  degree  too  heavy,  upon 
a  camel's  back,  and  wild  horses  will  not  persuade  him 
to  get  up,  let  alone  start  upon  his  journey.  And  he 
must  be  left  to  fix  its  own  pace.  A  whip,  even 
across  his  nose,  would  have  no  effect  whatever, 
and  your  spur  might  tear  his  flanks  to  pieces 
without  increasing  the  pace  a  jot.  If  his  rider 
irritate  him,  he  will  not  try  to  kick  him  off,  but 
may  run  away.  If  he  does  run  away,  he  will  take 
good  care  that  you  do  not  benefit  by  the  momentary 
increase  of  speed.  He  will  give  you  clearly  to 
understand  that  he  only  sought  to  annoy  you,  and 
will  never  run  away  very  far.  His  motion,  when  he 
runs  away,  is  exceedingly  disagreeable,  and  you  soon 
agree  that  he  has  been  well  named  the  "  ship  of  the 
desert"  for  more  reasons  than  one.  If  you  are  not 
actually  sea-sick,  at  any  rate  you  feel  very  uncomfort- 
able. Animals  are  notoriously  more  susceptible  to 
sea-sickness  than  we  are,  and  a  friend  of  mine, 
who  imported  a  number  of  zoological  specimens 
from  the  interior  of  Africa  on  camel-back,  found 
that  most  of  them  perished  from  the  effect  of  the 
voyage. 

Sometimes  there  are  scenes  of  jealousy  between 
male  camels,  and  they  fight  with  great  fury.  Once 
they  have  commenced  to  fight,  it  is  impossible  to 
separate  them  until  one  has  killed  the  other.  A  camel 
which  has  been  the  victor  in  such  a  fight  becomes  very 
useful  in  guarding  the  flock  of  females.  He  wards  oft 
intruders,  prevents  the  flock  from  wandering  and 


304  TUNISIA 

brings  it  home  safely  at  the  end  of  the  day,  so  that 
no  keepers  are  necessary. 

The  pack-camel  travels  very  slowly,  and,  until  you 
are  sufficiently  reconciled  to  the  motion  to  be  able  to 
doze  on  its  back,  you  are  constantly  tempted  to  get  off 
and  walk.  If  you  want  speed,  you  must  buy  a  racing 
camel.  This  seems  to  belong  to  a  different  creation. 
It  is  much  taller,  more  alert,  and  more  intelligent.  It 
can  accomplish  150  miles  in  sixteen  hours  without 
undue  effort,  and,  in  the  matter  of  price,  compares  with 
the  pack-camel  as  the  thoroughbred  does  with  the  cab- 
horse.  The  racing  camel  is  very  carefully  bred,  and 
valuable  prizes  are  offered  by  a  racing  society  at 
Biskra  for  the  fleetest  racer.  I  have  seen  the  start, 
and  it  reminded  me,  in  a  far-off  sort  of  way,  of  New- 
market. The  camels  were  all  arranged  in  line,  and 
they  sniffed  the  air  in  their  anxiety  to  be  off.  A  flag 
was  waved,  and  they  set  off  at  a  terrible  pace,  as  if 
they  were  only  racing  for  a  mile  and  a  quarter.  They 
kept  together  until  they  were  almost  out  of  sight. 
Then  they  seemed  to  settle  down  to  their  habitual 
pace,  and  the  race  proceeded  with  long  intervals 
between  the  competitors.  I  have  also  seen  the 
finish  of  a  camel  race,  and  it  reminded  me  of  the  first 
motor-car  promenade  between  London  and  Brighton. 
The  camels  were  certainly  not  so  broken  down  and 
bedraggled,  but  they  came  in  at  intervals  of  several 
hours,  and  great  patience  was  necessary  to  watch 
them  come  in.  It  would  be  quite  impossible  to 
make  a  book  on  a  camel  race,  for  the  pace  of  each 
camel  is  well  known  in  advance,  and  the  owners 


U05 


BEASTS   AND   FEATHERED   FOWL 


307 


can  make  sure      f 
of  winning  or 
losing    by    se- 
veral hours. 

At  the  pre- 
sent day  cam- 
els are  used 
for  all  sorts  of 
domestic  pur- 
poses in  Afri- 
ca. They  may 
even  be  seen 
drawing 
ploughs  in  the 
interior  of  the 
Regency  of 
Tunis.  You 
may  remark  a 
woman  and  a 
camel  har- 
nessed to  the 
same  plough, 
and  you  hesi- 
tate to  decide  which  is  the  greater  outrage.  Camels 
are  also  used  for  drawing  water  from  the  strange,  cum- 
bersome, old-fashioned  wells  of  \orth  Africa.  Their 
chief  use,  however,  is  for  caravans.  You  may  be- 
hold them  bringing  in  lui"'c  cases  of  dates  from  the 

^>       o  & 

oases,  or  you  may  see  them  with  great  tent-like 
structures  of  red  silk  upon  their  backs.  These  tents 
are  for  the  conveyance  of  Arab  women  of  the  upper 


308  TUNISIA 

classes,  who  seek  to  maintain  the  privacy  of  the  harem 
even  on  a  journey.  Two  women  and  some  children 
are  often  accommodated  on  one  camel.  They  have 
cushions  on  which  they  can  lie  down  and  even  sleep. 
It  is  stuffy,  and  it  is  dark,  but  they  deem  themselves 
well  off  in  escaping  from  the  searching  rays  of  the 
burning  sun.  And  what  an  admirable  disguise  it 
affords !  I  am  told  that  the  authorities  at  Tripoli 
object  to  strangers  travelling  in  the  interior.  So  I 
mean  to  take  a  camel  with  a  harem  tent,  and  hide 
myself  inside  it  until  I  shall  have  passed  the  Turkish 
guards  at  the  gate  of  the  town. 

It  is  a  strange  sight  to  watch  the  arrival  of  a 
caravan  from  a  distance.  It  resembles  a  long  snake, 
growing  ever  bigger  and  bigger  as  it  draws  near.  It 
always  proceeds  in  the  same  order :  first,  the  camels 
with  huge  packs  of  wool  or  esparto  on  each  side  of 
their  backs ;  then  a  cavalcade  of  little,  thin,  wiry 
donkeys,  scarcely  bigger  than  large  Newfoundland 
dogs,  also  very  heavily  laden,  and  having  sometimes  a 
stout  man  perched  on  their  backs  in  addition  to  their 
own  weight  in  merchandise ;  then  crowds  of  men  on 
foot,  carrying  nothing  but  long  guns  slung  across  their 
shoulders  ;  and,  lastly,  a  herd  of  half-ragged  women, 
groaning  under  prodigious  weights,  and  carrying 
their  children  in  a  kind  of  sack  upon  their  backs. 
The  whole  caravan  suggests  a  procession  of  phan- 
toms, and  you  wonder  whether  you  may  not  be  face  to 
face  with  some  strange  dream. 

The  most  admired  camels  are  the  so-called  white 
ones,  in  reality  of  a  dingy  cream  colour.  These  are 


BEASTS  AND  FEATHERED  FOWL  311 

also  said  to  be  the  most  intelligent.  A  camel's  age 
may  be  told  by  his  teeth  with  certainty  up  to 
eight  years  or  even  twelve.  From  fifteen  to  twenty 
he  is  old  and  well  past  his  prime.  When  old  and 
tough,  he  is  often  killed  and  eaten,  just  as  a  horse 
is  in  France.  Distinguished  travellers  in  the  interior 
of  North  Africa  are  often  regaled  with  a  young  camel 
roasted  whole,  but  this  is  rather  welcome  for  the  idea 
of  the  thing  than  for  the  flavour,  though  the  hump  is 
generally  considered  a  delicacy.  Among  camels, 
however,  it  is  supposed  to  be  an  imperfection,  for 
there  is  a  proverb:  "The  camel  sees  not  his  own 
hump,  but  sees  that  of  his  brother." 

When  the  locust  season  is  due,  telegraphic 

Locusts.  . 

warning  ot  the  plague  s  advent  may  be  ex- 
pected any  day.  Very  few  precautions  are  taken 
against  the  full-grown  insects,  who  will  shortly  ap- 
proach from  the  West.  Indeed,  in  these  hard  times 
they  are  almost  welcome  as  an  article  of  food. 
They  are  deadened  with  oil  and  dried  on  the  roofs 
of  the  houses,  after  which  they  are  considered  a 
delicacy  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  shrimp  sauce. 
Forced  labour  is  used  to  destroy  their  nests,  wher- 
ever they  may  be  found  ;  and  one  result  of  this  is, 
that  the  Arabs  hesitate  to  notify  discoveries  of  tainted 
areas,  lest  they  may  be  told  off  to  deal  with  them. 
It  is  doubtful,  moreover,  whether  any  amount  of 
energy  is  sufficient  to  cope  with  locusts  adequately. 
When  the  eggs  are  hatched,  dense  columns  of  wing- 
less insects  proceed  in  every  direction,  devouring 
every  green  tiling  and  penetrating  even  into  the 


312  TUNISIA 

houses  of  the  villages.  Corn  and  the  leaves  of  olive 
trees  they  destroy  utterly,  palm  branches  they  spoil 
severely,  and  even  the  heads  of  esparto-grass  they 
attempt  to  damage,  despite  difficulties  of  digestion. 
The  Cypriot  net  is  now  largely  used  as  a  prophy- 
lactic. It  is  some  two  feet  high  and  provided  with 
a  glazed  surface  near  the  ground ;  but  the  general 
opinion  is  that  it  is  of  very  little  use  as  a  barrier, 
unless  natives  are  employed  to  tap  it  constantly. 
Greater  reliance  is,  perhaps,  placed  on  the  aboriginal 
plan  of  luring  the  insects  into  pits,  and  then  drown- 
ing them  or  trampling  them  to  death.  So  far,  the 
natives  have  been  fairly  successful  in  keeping  them 
out  of  the  chief  oases,  but  the  general  attitude  to- 
wards them  is  the  patience  of  the  fatalist,  and  the 
hope  that  they  may  soon  grow  wings  and  fly  off  to 
devastate  other  lands  to  the  East. 

An    Arab    said    to    a    friend    of    mine : 

Dog's. 

"  There  are  three  things  which  we  do  not 
understand  in  Christians,  and  find  it  difficult  to  for- 
give them  :  they  let  their  women  go  about  unveiled  ; 
they  eat  pig ;  and,  most  horrible  of  all,  they  em- 
brace their  dogs."  Muhammadans  are  always  kind 
to  animals — except,  perhaps,  to  pigs  they  may  find 
wandering  about  in  their  grave-yards — but  they  con- 
sider a  dog  to  be  an  unclean  animal,  and  elaborate 
ablutions  are  necessary  after  touching  one.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  ascertain  whether  there  were  ever 
street-dogs  in  Tunis,  as  there  are  at  Constantinople. 
There  have  certainly  not  been  any  recently,  for  every 
native  I  have  consulted  has  been  astonished  at  the 


BEASTS   AND  FEATHERED   FOWL  313 

very  idea.  In  the  villages  of  Tunisia  there  are 
plenty  of  dogs,  who  are  friendly  to  the  inhabitants 
but  ferocious  towards  strangers.  They  are,  however, 
more  or  less  attached  to  the  various  households,  and 
have  not  the  high  degree  of  intelligence  which  is 
developed  among  dogs  who  have  to  fend  for  them- 
selves. 

The  view  over  the  lake  of  Tunis  is  often 

Flamingoes. 

enhanced    by    lovely   salmon-pink    patches, 
which  glitter  in   the  sunlight,      These   are   vast  re^i- 

O  «->  O 

ments  of  flamingoes,  which  the  natives  consider  to 
be  among  the  most  intelligent  of  the  lower  animals. 
Stuffed  specimens  may  be  purchased  in  Tunis,  but 
the  bird  requires  great  skill  and  patience  to  stalk. 
You  may  see  thousands  huddled  together  as  they  fish 
upon  the  lake  ;  but  directly  you  attempt  to  come  near 
them,  a  sentinel,  posted  on  the  outskirts,  gives  the 
alarm,  and  the  whole  army  makes  off  like  a  fiery  Hash. 
Naturalists,  who  have  studied  their  habits,  describe 
all  sorts  of  evolutions,  exceeding  in  precision  and 
ingenuity  even  those  of  rooks  or  grenadiers.  They 
have  parliaments  upon  the  water  and  elaborate  police 
regulations,  criminal  trials  (doubtless  by  jury),  and 
summary  executions.  Hut,  as  might  be  expected 
in  red-coats,  their  chief  delight  lies  in  military  exer- 
cises. They  wheel  in  line,  march  in  single  file,  and 
charge  at  the  double,  under  the  direction  of  experi- 
enced sergeants  and  centurions  and,  no  doubt,  it  it 
were  only  possible  to  come  a  little  closer  to  ob- 
serve them,  many  other  interesting  details  of  military 
organization  would  be  revealed. 


3I4  TUNISIA 

There  are  only  two  dangerous   kinds  of 

Serpents. 

snakes  in  Tunisia — the  little  horned  adder, 
which  may  be  easily  trodden  upon  in  the  woods,  and 
a  large  puff  adder,  which  sits  up  and  inflates  itself 
before  darting.  If  proper  precautions  be  taken  at 
once,  it  is  possible  to  recover  from  their  bites,  but  the 
poison  will  produce  a  long  period  of  prostration.  It 
is  the  large  puff  adder  which  the  serpent-charmers 
generally  display,  but  they  sometimes  take  advantage 
of  the  ignorance  of  the  crowd  to  produce  a  perfectly 
harmless  snake  of  alarming  size.  A  friend  of  mine 
was  engaged  upon  some  excavations  in  the  interior, 
and  had  stretched  his  arm  some  way  down  a  hole  in 
a  ruin,  when  he  heard  loud  exclamations  from  the 
Arabs  who  were  with  him,  and,  starting  back,  he 
found  that  he  had  disturbed  a  huge  snake,  which  was 
proceeding  to  coil  itself  round  his  arm.  It  belonged, 
however,  to  a  harmless  variety,  and  he  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  shaking  it  off. 

When  the  weather  grows  hot,  it  is  almost 

Scorpions. 

impossible  to  go  anywhere  among  loose 
stones  without  encountering  scorpions.  They  have 
even  been  known  to  adventure  themselves  into 
houses,  and  it  is  always  an  useful  precaution  in  the 
interior  to  look  inside  your  bed  and  your  boots  to 
make  sure  that  they  have  not  ensconced  themselves 
there.  They  are  livid  reptiles  of  a  peculiarly  revolt- 
ing appearance,  but  as  a  rule  their  bite,  though  by 
no  means  pleasant,  is  not  more  dangerous  than  the 
sting  of  a  wasp.  People  have,  however,  been  known 
to  die  from  the  effects.  A  friend  of  mine,  who  was 


315 

bitten,  told  me  that  the  effect  was  an  extraordinary 
chilling  of  the  blood. 

A  certain  officer  vowed  that  he  had  no  fear  of 
scorpions  in  his  boots.  If  ever  he  found  one  there, 
he  would  stamp  it  to  death  with  his  iron  heel.  One 
day  he  put  on  his  top  boot  and  felt  a  sting.  He 
stamped  violently,  but  the  sting  only  grew  sharper. 
He  went  on  stamping  until  his  patience  was  ex- 
hausted and  his  boot  was  full  of  blood.  Then  he 
took  it  off,  and  found  that  a  practical  joker  had 
placed  a  spur  there. 

In  Tunis  itself  a  gazelle  is  by  no  means 

Gazelles.  .  ; °  J 

easy  to  obtain,  for  it  has  to  be  brought  a 
long  way  from  the  south  of  the  Regency,  and  does  not 
always  stand  the  rough-and-ready  means  of  transport. 
When  I  came  to  Gabes,  I  was  delighted  to  find  a 

o 

couple  of  gazelles  gambolling  in  the  courtyard  of  the 
little  inn,  and  I  soon  made  friends  with  them  ;  though 
they  never  acquired  anything  like  the  tameness  which 
my  own  gazelle  has  developed  in  England.  One  of 
them  was  a  female  about  a  year  old,  with  long, 
curved  horns,  and  the  other  a  male  of  about  three 
months,  with  horns  which  had  not  yet  grown  longer 
than  an  inch.  The  male  was  the  tamer  of  the  two, 
but  neither  of  them  had  much  confidence  in  strangers 

o 

on  first  acquaintance.  They  seemed  devoted  to  the 
landlady,  who  had  brought  them  up  from  infancy,  and 
they  condescended  to  tolerate  a  negro  servant — chiefly, 
I  fancy,  on  account  of  the  excellent  accent  with  which 
he  imitated  their  bleat.  They  were  allowed  to  run 
about  the  streets  whenever  they  liked,  but  they  never 


316  TUNISIA 

strayed  very  far,  lest  the  Arab  boys  should  be  temp- 
ted to  tease  them.  Their  chief  occupation  was  to 
bask  in  the  sunshine  of  the  courtyard,  or  nibble  at 
a  great  bunch  of  Lucerne  grass,  hung  up  for  their 
benefit,  or  wander  into  the  guests'  bedrooms  and  play 
with  anything  that  took  their  fancy  there.  Nothing 
could  exceed  their  mischief,  and  the  landlady  told 
me  that  one  of  them  had  bitten  a  huge  hole  in  a 
sheet  which  she  had  hung  up  to  air.  One  morning, 
when  I  was  dressing,  the  younger  gazelle  stole  in 
and  carried  off  one  of  my  most  necessary  garments 
into  the  courtyard.  He  stood  behind  a  pillar  with 
it  in  his  mouth,  surveying  me  with  the  most  mis- 
chievous expression,  and  dodging  me  behind  the 
pillars,  to  the  intense  amusement  of  the  negro,  when 
I  attempted  a  pursuit.  One  evening  their  mistress  had 
been  feeding  them  and  putting  her  fingers  into  their 
mouths  to  play  with  them.  "  Look,"  she  remarked, 
"how  gentle  they  are!  They  would  never  dream  of 
biting  me."  She  had  scarcely  said  this  when  she  gave 
a  loud  squeal,  and  drew  away  a  finger  from  which  the 
blood  was  streaming  copiously.  I  could  not  help 
laughing,  although  she  had  evidently  been  severely 
bitten.  "Poor  little  fellow!"  she  said.  "  It  was  all 
my  own  fault ;  for,  of  course,  he  thought  I  was  giving 
him  something  to  eat."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
a  gazelle  will  never  touch  meat. 

The  animals  evidently  possessed  such  a  keen  sense 
of  humour,  and  their  practical  jokes  were  always  so 
witty,  that  I  entreated  the  landlady  to  procure  me 
a  gazelle  as  soon  as  possible.  She  expressed  her 


BEASTS   AND   FEATHERED   FOWL  317 

doubts  about  my  being  able  to  get  it  home  safely  to 
England,  or  to  keep  it  alive  in  our  arctic  climate  ; 
but  she  mentioned  that  she  had  obtained  a  pair  some 
years  previously  for  a  German,  and  that  they  had 
thriven  exceedingly  in  his  deer-park.  Indeed,  he 
had  written  to  her  recently  to  announce,  with  great 
delight,  that  they  had  just  presented  him  with  the 
dearest  and  fluffiest  little  gazelle  imaginable,  and 
that  he  hoped  in  process  of  time  to  possess  quite 
a  colony  of  them.  Several  days  elapsed  without 
my  seeing  my  promised  gazelle,  and  when  the  land- 
lady told  me  that  he  could  only  be  obtained  by 
a  piece  of  good  fortune — if  an  Arab  happened  to 
have  killed  the  mother,  in  order  to  sell  her  flesh  in 
the  market  and  her  little  ones  as  pets — I  began  to 
fear  that  no  gazelle  would  turn  up  before  the  time 
arrived  for  my  departure  from  the  oasis.  However, 
one  morning  the  woman  summoned  me  in  a  great 
state  of  excitement  to  say  that  she  had  found  an 
Arab  leading  a  young  gazelle  through  the  street, 
and  had  instantly  waylaid  him  on  my  account. 
I  hurried  out  into  the  courtyard,  and  found  the 
sweetest  and  most  miserable  little  object  I  have  ever 
beheld.  It  seemed  to  consist  of  nothing  but  skin 
and  bone,  and  its  long  spindle  legs,  covered  with 
terrible  sores  where  they  had  been  tied  together, 
would  have  given  it  a  laughable  aspect  if  one  had 
not  felt  so  sorry  for  it.  It  was  held  by  a  coarse  rope 
round  its  neck,  and  cowered  away  from  everybody 
trembling  with  fear.  But  even  then  its  blue- black 
eyes  were  exceedingly  beautiful,  and  it  had  an  ex- 


3i8  TUNISIA 

quisitely  impertinent  expression  about  its  little  snub 
nose.  I  wanted  to  take  possession  of  it  at  once, 
and  thought  half  a  crown  dirt  cheap ;  but  the  land- 
lady had  her  own  ideas  about  the  etiquette  of  pur- 
chase in  the  East,  and  insisted  on  haggling  for  a 
long  time,  to  the  eventual  saving  of  threepence. 
The  poor  little  fellow  was  evidently  half-starved, 
but  it  took  several  days  before  we  could  accustom 
him  to  take  warm  goat's  milk  out  of  a  baby's 
bottle.  He  was,  however,  by  no  means  stupid  in 
learning  what  was  expected  of  him,  and  soon  de- 
veloped into  the  sweetest  little  round  ball  of  fluff, 
perched  at  the  top  of  four  ridiculous  stilts,  with 
glossy  patent-leather  shoes  at  the  end  of  them. 
The  other  gazelles  viewed  him  with  suspicion  and 
butted  him  away  whenever  he  was  inclined  to  make 
any  advances  to  them ;  so  he  soon  came  to  look 
upon  us  as  his  only  friends  and  natural  protectors. 

I  expected  that  he  would  prove  a  great  trial  on 
the  long  journey  back  to  England,  but  he  turned  out 
exceedingly  docile  and  accommodating.  Happily,  the 
captain  and  stewards  on  board  the  boats  took  a  great 
fancy  to  him,  and  spared  no  trouble  about  sending 
ashore  to  fetch  his  daily  half-litre  of  milk.  When 
it  was  smooth,  he  used  to  frolic  about  the  saloon 
and  deck  with  exuberance,  but  he  was  always  ready 
to  be  packed  away  again  in  his  hamper  and  sleep 
profoundly  at  a  moment's  notice.  Off  the  coast  of 
Sicily  I  had  some  alarm  about  him,  as  I  had  been 
unable  to  obtain  fresh  milk  and  had  been  beguiled 
by  his  piteous  appeals  into  giving  him  a  dose  of 


BEASTS   AND  FEATHERED   FOWL  319 

condensed  milk,  which   disagreed   with   him  at  once. 
By  this  time    I    had  grown   so  fond   of  him  and  his 
pretty  little  ways,  that   I  could  not  bear  the  thought 
of    the    possibility    of    losing    him.      However,    after 
several   bottlefuls  of  real  milk   he  rapidly  recovered. 
I   had    been    told    that    he    would    probably  prove    a 
very  bad  sailor,   but    this   turned  out   to   be   quite  a 
mistake.     When    the    sea    was    roughest,   and    I    was 
feeling  most  anxious  to  remain  undisturbed,  he  would 
poke    his    nose  into    my  hand    and    jump   about,   ex- 
pecting me   to   join   him   in  a  game  of  play.      From 
Naples — where    he    proved    far   and    away   the    most 
popular    person    in    my    hotel — I     travelled    straight 
through   to   England,   solely  on   his   account ;  and   he 
accommodated    himself   to    the    railway    as    easily    as 
he   had  done  to  the  steamer.     As  the  officials  were 
quite  unaccustomed  to  a  gazelle  as  a  passenger,  they 
were  puzzled  to  know  how   he  ought   to  be  treated. 
In  one  case  only — for  the  first  stretch  in   Italy,  and 
that  chieily,   I   think,  on  account  of  the   officiousness 
of  my  hotel  porter — I   had   to   take   a  ticket   for  the 
gazelle.     The  rest  of  the  way  he  was  as  free  as  an 
infant   in   arms,   and,    I    may   add,   a    great    deal    less 
troublesome.      Never  was  there  so  patient  an  animal. 
If  he  had  to  go  without  food   for  a  long  time,  or  to 
be  stuffed  into  his  basket  when  he  would  have  liked 
to  play  or  take  the  air,   he  never  emitted   more  than 
the   feeblest   little    bleat    of   protest.     The    man   who 
made    out    his    ticket    had    no    idea    what    he    was. 
Dogs   he   knew,  and    goats   he   knew,   but   what   was 
this?      "A  gazelle,"    I    said.— "  What  is  that?      Is   it 


320  TUNISIA 

a  monkey  or  a  parrot?"  It  is  astonishing  what  a 
number  of  animals  he  has  been  mistaken  for  in  the 
course  of  his  career.  A  man  in  Rome  was  heard 
explaining  to  another  that  he  was  a  kangaroo,  and 
in  France  every  one  said  he  was  a  biche.  But 
perhaps  his  strangest  experience  was  when  he 
landed  in  England,  and  I  had  to  pass  him  off  as  a 
basket  of  strawberries.  The  English  custom-house 
officials  were  the  only  ones  who  made  any  objection 
to  him  anywhere  during  his  journey.  I  had  scarcely 
come  off  the  boat,  when  an  individual  came  up  and 
asked  me  whether  I  had  a  licence  to  import  a  ga- 
zelle. I  said,  "  Licence  ?  No.  Why  should  I  want 
a  licence  ?  It  isn't  a  dog."  "  But  there  is  a  rule  that 
no  ruminating  animal  may  be  imported  without  a 
special  permit  from  the  Board  of  Agriculture.  You 
will  have  to  telegraph  for  a  permit,  and  leave  him 
here  until  you  get  it.  We  will  take  every  care  of 
him."  If  I  had  had  proper  presence  of  mind,  I 
should  have  asked  the  man  how  he  knew  for  certain 
that  a  gazelle  was  a  ruminating  animal ;  but  he 
might  have  opened  the  basket  to  see,  and  I  am 
sure  the  little  rascal  would  have  been  contrary 
enough  to  seize  that  very  moment  for  an  exhibition 
of  his  powers  of  ruminating.  As  it  was,  I  could 
only  plead  and  implore.  It  would  surely  die.  It 
would  not  take  its  bottle  from  anybody  but  us. 
Would  the  custom-house  not  have  pity  on  a  poor 
orphan  ?  The  custom-house  was  decidedly  inclined 
to  have  pity,  but  unfortunately  regretted  that  the  regu- 
lations were  absolute,  and  it  was  as  much  as  any 


BEASTS   AND  FEATHERED  FOWL          321 

one's  place  was  worth  to  infringe  it.  At  last  a 
happy  thought  occurred  to  me,  and  I  said,  "  How 
do  you  know  it  is  a  gazelle  ?  You  have  not  seen 
it."  ''No,  but  somebody  must  have  done  so"; 
and  the  man  looked  round  inquiringly  to  his  col- 
leagues, who  confessed  that  none  of  them  had  seen 
it.  "  So,"  I  said  triumphantly,  "  if  I  tell  you  it  is 
a  basket  of  strawberries,  you  will  let  it  through." 
"  Well,"  said  the  man,  with  a  grin,  "  if  you  can  tell 
me  that  it  is  a  basket  of  strawberries,  I  shall  have 
no  choice  but  to  let  you  take  it  away."  "  All  right, 
then ;  I  tell  you  he  is  a  basket  of  strawberries,"  I 
said  in  great  delight,  snatching  him  up  as  a  brand 
from  the  burning.  As  I  passed  the  official  at  the 
door  of  the  custom-house,  he  said  to  me,  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  "  Lor,  I  don't  believe  that 
ain't  no  basket  of  strorberries ;  I  believe  it's  a 
monkey." 

Mr.  Gabey  spent  his  first  English  fortnight  at 
Brighton,  soon  growing  so  plump  and  well-liking 
that  no  one  who  had  seen  him  on  his  first  appear- 
ance, with  a  rope  round  his  neck,  could  ever  have 
recognised  him  for  the  same  animal,  and  I  soon 
grew  tired  of  the  laudatory  adjectives  with  which 
every  one  assailed  him.  I  took  him  every  day 
into  the  square  gardens,  where  a  dense  mob  of 
cabmen,  errand-boys,  and  all  sorts  of  loafers,  con- 
gregated round  the  railings  to  admire  his  jumps, 
with  legs  stiffly  outstretched,  some  three  feet  in  the; 
air.  "'Ullo,  Jimmy  Longlegs ! "  was  the  general 
verdict. 


322  TUNISIA 

He  has  now  lived  five  months  in  a  London  flat, 
and  enjoys  the  most  robust  health,1  exciting  the 
lifelong  devotion  of  every  one  who  is  privileged  to 
behold  him.  Never  was  anything  more  useful  as  a 
topic  of  conversation,  and  the  narrative  of  his  endless 
caprices  varies  every  day.  He  has  the  strongest  likes 
and  dislikes,  quite  irrespective  of  any  kindness  which 
maybe  shown  him.  Indeed,  he  has  a  decided  con- 
tempt for  people  who  grovel  too  much  to  him.  His 
aristocratic  instincts  inspire  in  him  a  great  dislike  to 
all  menials,  and  he  always  tries  to  chase  out  of  the 
room  any  one  who  enters  it  wearing  a  white  apron. 
He  emits  loud  bleats,  which  are  almost  -savage,  and 
butts  at  his  enemy  full  tilt  with  vehemence — which 
will  doubtless  cause  pain  when  his  horns  shall  be 
full-grown.  One  of  his  favourite  _games  is  to  come 
behind  a  very  solemn  parlourmaid,  and  suddenly 
tug  at  the  streamers  of  her  cap  when  she  is  most 
rigidly  upon  her  dignity.  If  I  hold  a  napkin  in 
front  of  me  and  pretend  that  it  is  an  apron,  he  is 
visibly  disturbed,  and  grunts  his  disapproval,  though 
he  knows  who  it  is  all  the  time.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  has  a  great  partiality  for  black  clothes, 
probably  because  he  was  first  fed  with  a  bottle  held 
against  a  black  skirt.  This  black  skirt  he  has  by 
no  means  forgotten,  and  if  he  sees  it  hanging  up 
anywhere,  he  rushes  up  to  paw  it  and  ask  it  for 

1  Alas,  since  writing  the  above,  my  poor  Gabey  has  succumbed 
to  the  abominable  climate  of  Wales.  The  subject  is,  however,  too 
painful  to  enlarge  upon.  I  miss  him  more  than  I  should  miss  any 
human  child.  Inshallah;  may  his  soul  rest  in  peace  ! 


BEASTS   AND   FEATHERED   FOWL          323 

food.     Then    when    it    takes    no    notice    of   him,    he 
proceeds  to  punish  it  by  biting  large  holes  in  it. 

His  taste  in  food  is  of  infinite  variety.  What  he 
likes  best  of  all  is  a  cigarette  end  or  a  spoonful  of 
apricot  jam.  He  also  considers  a  wax  match  a  great 
delicacy,  but  that  is  not  often  allowed  him  lest  he 
should  develop  an  attack  of  phossy-jaw.  He  likes 
fruit  of  nearly  every  kind  and  would  be  delight- 
fully destructive  in  a  garden.  If  you  give  him  a 
cherry  he  proceeds  to  play  at  the  bobbing  game 
before  eating  it.  He  takes  the  end  of  the  stalk 
in  his  mouth,  draws  the  fruit  up  with  great 
patience  in  the  most  comical  manner,  and  has  never 
yet  been  caught  cheating.  Strawberry  stalks  and 
stewed  fruit,  with  a  great  deal  of  sugar,  are  always 
welcome  to  him,  but  he  is  generally  ready  to  eat  up 
a  whole  spoonful  of  salt,  which  he  finds  useful  as 
an  appetiser.  For  some  days  he  raved  about  lump 
sugar  and  would  do  almost  anything  to  obtain  it,  but 
now  he  has  taken  a  sudden  distaste  to  it,  and  turns 
away  with  a  sniff  when  it  is  offered.  He  has  a  great 
curiosity  about  new  forms  of  food,  and  when  I  am 
at  breakfast  he  thinks  it  a  great  joke  to  creep  up 
suddenly  behind  me  and  stuff  his  nose  into  my  plate, 
or  both  forelegs  into  my  tea-cup.  If  there  is  a  great 
upset,  he  is  greatly  amused,  and  trots  about  the  room 
with  his  head  in  the  air,  convinced  he  has  done  some- 
thing exceedingly  clever.  I  le  never  neglects  an  op- 
portunity of  gnawing  a  piece  of  paper.  If  it  is  very 
thin,  it  soon  disappears  down  his  throat,  but,  if  it  is 
thick,  he  only  plays  with  it  as  a  dog  with  a  bone. 


324  TUNISIA 

More  than  once  I  have  left  a  pile  of  letters  within  his 
reach,  and  when  I  have  returned  he  has  greeted  me 
with  every  possible  expression  of  merriment,  and  I 
have  found  several  of  the  letters  reduced  to  a  pulp. 
If  he  is  dull,  he  can  always  occupy  himself  with  a 
newspaper ;  when  the  cover  is  not  to  his  taste  he 
tears  it  off,  then  he  turns  over  the  pages  and  sniffs 
them  just  as  if  he  were  engaged  in  mastering  their 
contents.  I  regret  to  say  that  he  has  a  decided 
preference  for  light  literature,  such  as  the  Sporting 
Times  and  the  theatrical  columns  of  the  Sketch.  This 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  he  always  thinks  in  the  very 
latest  slang,  as  you  may  see  by  watching  his  expres- 
sion when  he  walks  about  the  room  carrying  a  straw  in 
his  mouth  like  a  groom.  Another  of  his  diversions  is 
to  go  under  the  table  at  meal  times  and  quietly  bite 
all  your  bootlaces  in  two.  He  will  often  leave  them 
hanging  by  a  thread,  so  that  when  you  get  into  the 
street,  they  will  all  burst  simultaneously.  He  will 
also  lick  all  the  blacking  off,  so  that  your  boots  appear 
as  if  you  have  been  walking  through  a  river.  He  is 
never  so  happy  as  when  he  can  creep  into  a  dressing 
room  where  a  number  of  boots  are  laid  out.  Then 
he  sits  himself  solemnly  down  and  spends  the  whole 
afternoon  in  making  a  meal  off  them.  I  am  sure  he 
must  have  some  Semitic  blood  in  his  veins,  for  he 
delights  in  anything  bright,  particularly  gold,  silver, 
and  jewellery,  which  he  will  gnaw  by  the  hour  when- 
ever he  is  permitted  to  do  so.  He  will  chew  up  a 
pearl  button  in  no  time,  and  if  a  pin,  needle,  hook 
or  eye  is  left  about  on  the  carpet,  he  never  fails  to 


BEASTS  AND  FEATHERED  FOWL    3^5 

appropriate  it.  I  am  always  afraid  that  his  rashness 
in  this  respect  may  bring  him  to  an  untimely  end. 
It  is  certainly  far  more  dangerous  to  him  than  the 
English  climate,  which,  after  all,  is  not  much  more 
trying  than  that  of  some  parts  of  Tunisia.  As 
he  is  an  Arab,  I  suppose  one  ought  also  to 
fear  for  him  the  dangers  of  the  evil  eye,  and  I 
always  shudder  whenever  any  one  tries  to  show  off 
his  knowledge  by  quoting  Tom  Moore's  unfortunately 
familiar  lines  about  the  "dear  Gazelle."  Certain 
it  is  that,  when  the  other  day  a  foolish  woman  of 
my  acquaintance  had  exclaimed,  "  What  an  idea  to 
have  a  gazelle,  I  am  sure  I  hope  it  will  die," 
he  suddenly  took  to  refusing  his  food,  and  showed 
signs  of  pining  away.  When,  however,  I  had  hung 
a  potent  amulet  round  his  neck,  the  spell  was  im- 
mediately broken,  and  his  appetite  and  sturdiness 
revived. 

He  is  one  of  the  best  companions  I  know,  and  will 
keep  up  a  conversation  for  a  long  time,  answering 
every  remark  with  the  most  expressive  bleats  and 
grunts,  as  if  he  understood  precisely  what  was  said  to 
him.  When  he  is  affectionately  disposed,  he  puts 
up  his  nose  and  sniffs  my  face  with  great  diligence. 
This  is  his  idea  of  kissing.  lie  cannot  bear  to  be 
left  alone  for  an  instant,  and  directly  I  get  up  to 
leave  a  room  he  makes  a  point  of  trotting  out  after 
me.  However  sleepy  he  may  be  in  the  evening,  he: 
is  always  reluctant  from  being  taken  off  to  his  rug  in 
the  scullery  ;  and  directly  he  is  let  out  in  the  morning 
he  rushes  off  and  scratches  at  my  bedroom  door, 


326  TUNISIA 

imploring  admission.  As  he  has  taken  so  extremely 
well  to  his  life  in  England,  and  is  doted  on  by  every 
one  who  sees  him,  I  can  only  wonder  how  it  is  that 
people  in  England  do  not  more  often  import  gazelles 
as  pets.  No  doubt  they  require  a  great  deal  of 
patience,  but  their  many  charms  afford  an  ample 
reward  for  its  expenditure. 


Chapter    XI 
TRIPOLI 

The    Town — The     Outskirts — Security — Commerce — Palm-wine — 
The  Future  of  Tripoli. 

FIRST    impressions   of  Tripoli   are   undoubt- 
edly the    best.      Beheld   from   the  steamer, 
across  a  dazzling  sea  of  every  shade  of  blue,  her  white 
sheen   and  crraceful    outlines  are    a  bountiful  deliq-ht. 

£3  O 

At  either  end  of  the  curving  bay  are  sturdy  forts  :  on 
one  side  the  Kasr  or  Citadel,  on  the  other  the  Spanish 
and  the  Borclj-el-lilla,  or  One  Night  Fort,  said  to  have 
been  built  by  the  Jinns  in  that  short  space  of  time. 
Between  these  extremities  is  the  venerable  wall  which 
encircles  the  whole  town  and  must  have  rendered  it 
well-nigh  impregnable  in  the  days  before  artillery. 
The  town  itself  seems  a  strange  collection  of  huddled 

o 

houses  with  flat  roofs  straggling  up  the  hill,  mosque 
domes,  and  rounded  minarets,  which  strike  a  contrast 
after  the  square  turret  shapes  of  Tunisia,  and  on  all 
hands  are  visions  of  verdant  gardens  with  projecting 
palms.  The  Customs'  formalities  are  very  slow  ;  your 
passport  is  taken  away,  your  name  and  profession  are 
noted  down  in  Turkish  characters,  and  if  you  confess 
to  no  profession,  you  are  gravely  inscribed  as  a 
"  Milor."  Inside  the  walls  the  town  belies  e.xpecta- 


328  TUNISIA 

tions,  though  it  is  not  without  certain  charms  of  its  own. 
The  streets  are  so  narrow  that  you  may  drive  but  a 
part  of  the  way  to  your  destination,  and  they  are 
paved  with  such  primaeval  boulders  that  all  transit  is  a 
torture.  The  only  vehicles  obtainable  are  a  kind  of 
springless  governess  cart,  of  brightly-painted  wood, 
provided  with  an  armoury  of  coloured  awnings  against 
the  raging  sun.  They  are  infinitely  picturesque,  but 
even  less  comfortable  than  an  Irish  jaunting-car.  The 
driver  crouches  on  the  shaft,  while  the  fares  hug  the 
seats  and  woodwork  in  wild  endeavours  to  keep  them- 
selves and  their  belongings  from  beins:  filing  on  to  the 

oo  o  o 

floor  or  the  road.  I  know  of  no  more  infallible  recipe 
for  a  headache  than  half  an  hour's  torture  in  such  a 
conveyance  amid  the  constant  dust  and  glare.  At  each 
of  the  town  gates  a  stone  obstacle,  more  than  a  foot 
high,  stretches  right  across  the  way  and  is  negotiated 
at  a  brisk  trot  with  consequences  which  are  painful  to 
remember.  The  houses  have  either  an  ugly  modern 
frontage  or  are  tumble-down  hovels  reeking  with  the 
refuse  of  generations,  but  nearly  every  street  is 
covered  in  with  ragged  matting  and  an  abundance  of 
verdure  which  afford  a  picturesque  atonement  for 
every  outrage.  There  is  by  no  means  the  same 
variety  of  costume  as  that  which  glorifies  the  greater 
part  of  Tunisia.  Turks  wear  the  fez  with  a  kind  of 
frock  coat,  and  most  of  the  Arabs  restrict  themselves 
to  a  monotonous  white  or  drab  coat,  called  a  barracan, 
which  covers  the  whole  body  from  head  to  foot.  But 
on  hey-days  the  Jewesses  wear  long  full  trousers  and 
zouaves,  which  are  far  richer  and  more  graceful  than 


TRIPOLI  329 

those  in  any  other  part  of  Barbary.  The  inns  are  as  bad 
as  any  in  the  Levant,  and  even  the  least  fastidious 
traveller  will  hesitate  to  spend  a  week  in  them  be- 
tween the  boats.  Nor  are  there  any  sights  to  tempt 
him.  He  may  not  enter  the  mosques,  and  the  famous 
Roman  arch  of  white  marble,  reported  not  long  ago 
to  be  the  finest  in  existence,  is  now  half  buried  in 
rubbish  heaps  and  walled  up  for  use  as  a  Maltese 
grog-shop.  And  yet  there  are  about  Tripoli  a  quiet 
charm  which  it  is  impossible  to  explain  or  define,  many 
unique  characteristics  appertaining  to  the  last  Turkish 
stronghold  in  Africa,  and  much  food  for  interesting 
reflection  by  the  roving  politician. 

Tawdry   modern    suburbs    are    in  process 

The  Outskirts.  .  ..,-,,... 

of  erection,  but  a  ride  outside  I  npoh  is 
still  a  delight.  The  oasis  is  a  series  of  luxurious 
gardens,  protected  by  high  mud  walls  against  possible 
marauders,  and  the  warm  air  is  laden  with  the  per- 
fume of  lemon-blossom.  The  profusion  of  oranges 
supplies  most  of  the  markets  of  the  world,  and  nearly 
all  those  which  are  known  to  the  trade  as  Malta 
bloods  are  exported  hence.  Mulberries  and  apricots 
are  ripe  at  the  end  of  April,  and  Japanese  medlars, 
picked  with  the  sun  on  them,  are  peculiarly  luscious. 
The  fringe  of  the  desert  is  but  a  few  yards  away  and, 
unlike  the  various  deserts  in  North  Tunisia,  presents 
the  traditional  expanse  of  bright  yellow  sand,  stretch- 
ing away  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach  without  ever  a 
trace  of  vegetation.  Further  along  the  oasis  is  a 
negro  village,  whither  it  is  the  fashion  to  repair  and 
witness  strange  barbaric  dances  by  the  li<>ht  of  a  full 

o  *  o 


330  TUNISIA 

moon.  The  huts  are  of  true  tropical  appearance, 
strange  erections  of  mud  and  leaves,  with  porches  of 
bamboo  palisade.  Travellers  may  wander  in  the  near 
vicinity  of  Tripoli  where  they  will,  but  journeying  in 
the  interior  is  discouraged,  chiefly  because  the 
Government  cannot  hold  themselves  responsible  for 
security  at  a  distance  from  towns,  but  partly  also 
because  the  present  Pasha  is  a  strict  Moslem  and  dis- 
inclined to  afford  facilities  to  inquisitive  infidels.  He  is 
somewhat  of  a  fanatic,  and  has  been  seen  to  embrace 
Dervishes  and  mad  Merabuts  in  the  public  streets. 
There  is,  however,  nothing  to  warrant  a  desire  to 
explore  the  interior  of  the  Vilayet.  Beyond  a  few 
hares  and  red-legged  partridges  there  is  no  pretext  for 
the  sportsman,  and  theories  of  archaeological  treasures 
are  probably  unfounded.  An  Englishman,  who  con- 
trived to  elude  the  authorities  a  couple  of  years  ago, 
claims  to  have  found  trilithons,  indicative  of  Baal  wor- 
ship, in  the  neighbouring  hill-ranges,  but  residents  at 
Gabes  aver  that  similar  models  are  employed  for  oil- 
mills  there  to  this  day. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of 
Tripoli  is  the  ubiquity  of  soldiers  and 
barracks.  The  barracks  are  airy,  cheerful  buildings, 
provided  in  every  case  with  pleasant  gardens.  The 
soldiers  are  sturdy,  good-natured  youths,  who  lounge 
about  the  streets  hand-in-hand.  Their  uniforms 
are  of  thick,  dark  frieze,  patched  and  darned 
and  ragged  beyond  description.  There  are  also 
plenty  of  policemen  in  the  town,  and  any  symptom  of 
disorder  would  be  speedily  repressed.  But  the  Arab 


TRIPOLI  331 

population  is  of  a  gentle  and  law-abiding  disposition. 
Indeed,  every  face  I  saw  seemed  to  beam  a  welcome. 
Under  a  clump  of  palm  trees  at  the  entrance  to  the 
desert  I  entered  into  conversation  with  a  party  of 
Beduins,  who  were  resting  their  camels  before  em- 
barking on  the  sands.  They  answered  every  enquiry 
with  ready  courtesy,  and  I  had  the  utmost  difficulty  in 
excusing  myself  from  accepting  their  invitation  to 
"  come  and  eat  mutton "  with  them.  When  I  ex- 
pressed a  wish  to  see  a  garden  in  the  oasis,  the  pro- 
prietor received  me  with  open  arms,  and  insisted  on 
loading  me  with  fruit  and  lemon-blossoms.  The  only 
source  for  serious  anxiety  in  Tripoli  is  the  strong  dis- 
taste for  military  service  under  the  Turks.  This 
led  to  disturbances  in  the  neighbouring  villages  in 
1898,  and  may  do  so  again.  In  the  town  itself  an 
European  may  wander  about  at  any  time  of  the  day 
or  night  as  safely  as  in  any  other  capital.  It  is  true 
that  the  Jews  do  not  venture  outside  their  quarters 
after  dark,  but  they  always  err  on  the  side  of  excessive 
caution,  and  it  is  significant  that  there  have  been  no 

'  O 

anti-Semitic  disturbances  in  Tripoli  as  in  Tunis  and 
Algeria. 

As    the    French    have    not   yet  succeeded 

Commerce.   .  ™       .    . 

in  re-establishing  caravans  between  I  unisia 
and  the  interior,  Tripoli  now  commands  a  monopoly 
in  this  part  of  North  Africa.  This  is  mainly  clue  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  Turkish  garrison  at  Rhadames, 
a  town  so  fanatical  that  no  Christian  is  permitted  to 
enter  it.  Most  of  the  ostrich  feathers  of  the  interior 
are  brought  to  Tripoli,  and  fine  specimens  ma}',  with 


332  TUNISIA 

perseverance,  be  purchased  in  the  bazaars.  Quaint 
Sudanese  garments,  saddlery,  arrows  and  other 
weapons,  horns,  skins,  and  curiosities  may  also  be 
picked  up,  but  the  shops  are  not  so  tempting  as  might 
be  expected,  and  the  merchants,  who  are  nearly  all 
Jews,  ask  extravagant  prices.  The  native  carpets  are 
now  by  no  means  what  they  were,  aniline  dyes  having 
come  into  use  and  the  work  being  less  thoroughly 
done.  Of  course  there  is  still  a  considerable  export 
of  esparto.  Trade  with  Tunisia  has  suffered  from  the 
imposition  of  the  maximum  tariff  against  imports  by 
sea  from  Tripoli,  but  Free  Trade  practically  exists  by 
land.  The  Turks,  who  still  regard  Tunisia  as  a 
Turkish  province,  apply  their  regulation  of  free  trade 
between  one  province  and  another  by  land,  while  the 
French  do  not  consider  that  the  receipts  would 
counterbalance  the  expenditure  of  establishing  custom- 
houses on  the  long  and  ill-defined  frontier  of  Tripoli  ; 
but  they  reserve  their  right  to  seize  and  tax  any  large 
consignments  which  may  have  evaded  duty  in  this 
way. 

A  great  deal  of  lagni,  or  palm-wine,  is 
consumed  at  Tripoli.  The  extraction  of  it 
generally  kills  a  palm  tree,  which  has  a  market  value 
of  five  pounds,  and  there  is  a  tax  of  one  pound  on 
each  tree  killed  in  this  way.  As  it  is  still  worth  while 
to  go  through  with  the  operation,  some  idea  may  be 
formed  of  the  quantity  of  sap  obtained  for  sale  at  a 
halfpenny  the  pint.  The  lagni  is  sweet  and  fresh  in 
the  morning  immediately  after  it  has  been  drawn,  but 
by  night  time  it  has  been  turned  into  a  fermented 


TRIPOLI  333 

beverage,  slightly  effervescing  and  agreeable  to  the 
taste.  Yeast  is  often  added  to  promote  the  fermenta- 
tion. Every  consumer  of  lagni  has  his  own  opinions 
as  to  the  best  time  for  drinking  the  beverage.  Most 
people  prefer  it  either  fresh  from  the  tree  or  else  after 
it  has  been  fermented,  and  consider  it  excessively 
nasty  at  the  various  stages  in  between. 
TheFutureof  The  importance  of  Tripoli  does  not  seem 
[Tipoii.  to  |-)e  fu]|y  appreciated  by  British  statesmen  ; 
and  it  is  well  to  utter  a  word  of  warning,  lest  it  should 
one  day  share  the  fate  of  Tunis.  It  is  true  that  the 
coast-line,  though  equal  in  length  to  that  of  Tunisia 
and  Algeria,  is  for  the  most  part  arid  and  desolate  ; 
but  we  must  not  forget  that  the  town  is,  and  is  likely 
to  remain,  the  principal  commercial  avenue  from 
the  Barbary  states  to  the  interior,  where  so  many 
rival  interests  are  at  stake.  There  is,  of  course,  no 
sign  that  Turkey  will  be  called  upon  to  part  with  it  in 
our  time,  but  it  were  surely  well  to  be  prepared. 
Should  the  Arabs'  distaste  for  Turkish  military  service; 
lead  to  a  general  rising,  the  French  might  not  be 
above  proclaiming  themselves  protectors  of  the  Arab 
race  in  Africa.  The  Italians,  too,  undeterred  by  their 
unbroken  series  of  reverses,  still  cherish  an  aspiration 
to  the  reversion  of  Tripoli.  It  is  to  foster  this  that 
they  subsidize  the  Florio-Rubattino  service  of  steamers, 
which  is  exceedingly  agreeable  to  the  few  passengers 
who  avail  themselves  of  it,  but  must  cost  a  pretty 
penny.  Should  the  occasion  arise,  it  may  be  useful  to 
remind  both  France  and  Italy  that  Tripoli  was 
formerly  a  dependency  of  Malta. 


I  N  D  E  X 

ARUSE,  89-90,  124  BAGHDAD,  Meralut  of,  109-110 

Acreage,  264  Bairam,  13,  15,  98,  99-105 

Agriculture,     28,     29,    39,    218,  Bankruptcy,  121 

263-268  Bazaars,  119,  151,  236-245,  249, 

Ahmed  Bey,  10  251,  254-257 

Ai'ssawas,  106-109,  203  Beds  and  bedrooms,  49,  67,  68 

Alawi  College,  294  73,  129 

Algeria,  31,  32,  39,  42,  77,  96,  Bees,  218 

121,  122,  259  Beggars,  87,  166,  169 

Ali,  Bey  of  Tunis,  11-24,  27,  32,  Beja,  193,  226-227 

105,  276,  279,  280  Benghazi,  259,  260 

Aqueduct,  Bardo,  5  Berbers,  i,  7,  8,  222 

Amphitheatres,     112,     210-211,  Berlin  Congress,  10,43 

216,  223,  226  Beys,  9,  10,  11-24,   27,  29,  123, 

Amulets,  53,  110,  112-114,  I4l>  220,  265,  289 

176,  216,  217,  325  Bicycles,  189,  190 

Angels,  Guardian,  133  Birds,  73,  227 

Antisemhes,    37,    122-124,   T3r>  Bizerta,  48,  So,    193,   213,   229- 

33'  235,  269 

Arab  administration,  28,  293  Blood-money,  272,  276,  279,  280, 

Arabesques,  49,  66,  68,  69  283 

Arabs,    7,   8,    46-91,   216,    227,  Bodyguard  of  the  Bey,  16,30 

2^9,330-331  Jiitkhra,  133,  137,  141 

Arabs  and  French,  35,  42,  225,  Buonaparte,  X.,  9 

286-287,290-292,333  Butcher?,     119,    130,    132,    151, 

Arabs  and  Jews,  123-124  203 

Archaeology,    2,    63,     175.     176,  By/antines,  7,  8.  227 

216,  223,  226,  228.  229,  330 
Arms,  254,  257 
Army,  30 

Arrival  in  Tunis,  144   146  CAMS,  328 

Art,  Arab,  74,  188,  189,  190,  291  Cactus,  26(1,  296 


336 


INDEX 


Camels,  19,  59,  101,  161,  186- 
187,  189,  203,  216,  264,  266, 

295-3H 

Canal,  Tunis,  144 
Capital  punishment,  283-284  (see 

also  Executions) 
Capitulations,  273 
Caravans,  187,  222,  258-261, 

263,  308,  331 
Carpets,  59,  238,  248,  253-254, 

261 
Carthage,  2,  3,  7,  137,  167,  169, 

170-183,  288 

Carthaginians,  1-3,  63,  226,  227 
Charles  the  Great,  8 
Charles  V.,  9 
Children,  55,  68,    76,  103-104, 

106,  169 

Church,  Anglican,  165-166 
Cisterns,  171,  173,  179,  226 
Civil  list,  13,  28 
Clocks,  23,  69 
Coburg,  Duchess  of,  72 
Colleges,  289-294 
Colonization,  39,  40,  42,  50 
Commerce,  30,  40,  43,  236-245, 

254-257»  258-262,  331-332 
Communications,  37,  38  (see  also 

Railways) 
Conscription,  30 
Controleurs    civils,    27,    28,   34, 

204,  220,  273 
Corvee,  see  Forced  labour 
Costumes,    48-49,   52,   57,   67, 

74;    101-102,    123,   134,   140, 

141,  143,   146-148,   151,   188, 

197-198,         212,         213,        222, 

328 

Cottons,  44,  261 
Crapaudine,  30 
Cremieux,  32 


Custom-houses,  40,  41,  145,  259, 
320-321,  327,  332 

DANCES,  98,  99,  100,  101,  142, 

329 

Dido,  2,  183 
Diligences,  37,  38 
Divorce,  79-80 

Dogs,  33,  49,  59,  287,  312 

Doors,  66,  no,  in,  153 

Dowries,  78 

Drugs,  48,  66,  78,  84,  139 

Drunkenness,  105 

Dugga,  193,  227-229 

Dwellings,  49,  50,  51,  58,  60-63, 

66-74,  129,  215,  328,  330 
Dwirat,  62,  193 
Dyeing,  247 

EDUCATION,  28,  120,  287-294 
El-Jem,  38,  112,  193,  2 1 0-2  ir, 

216 

El-Kef,  193,  225-226 
England's  lost  opportunity,  42-45 
Enzels,  265,  267,  292 
Esparto,  see  Haifa-grass 
Evil-eye,    66,   68,  69,    78,    no, 

112,  140,  244,  325 
Excavations,  2,  175 
Executions,  public,  275-281,  283 
Exports,  i,  29,  30 

FAMILY,  the  Jewish,  137-139 
Fantasia?,  188 
Fatalism,  148,  281,  312 
Feriana,  193 
Ferry,  232,  233 
Finance,  10,  28-29,  I25 
Fishing,  193,  213,  230,  268-271 
Flamingoes,  145,  313 
Flies,  129,  151,  203 


INDEX 

Future  of  Tunisia,  42 


337 


Flowers,  78,  194,  209,  210,  213 

Fonduks,  186-187,  299 

Food,   67,    73,   79,   81-83,    '37,      GABES>  34,  4°,  59,  121,  185,  193, 

214-219,  254,  260,  330 
Gafsa,  59,  186,  193 


141,  165 

Forced  labour,  29,  311 
Fortifications,  213-214,  221,  230,      Gardens,    16,    30,    41,    58,    211, 


23* 

Fortunetellers,  114-117 


215,  218,  254,  331 
Gazelles,  19,  66,  91,  315-326 


French  administration,  4,  u,  12,      Genseric,  4,  7 


27-45.  284-287 


Governor  of  Tunis,  274-275 


Graveyards,      95~97,      see      a/so 
Tombs 


French  aggression,    10,  95,  287, 

333 

French  concession  to  crime,  283  Greeks,  39,  213,  269,  270,  271 

French  craft,  u,  32-33,  230,  260  Greetings,  88-89 

French  distractions,  157,  204  Guilds,  243 

French  exactions,  4,   29,  34-35,  Gurbis,  50,  51,  52,  197 


41,  44,  259,  289 
trench  failures  and  shortcomings, 


HAB...US,  32,  265,  267,  292 
TT  ,r 

Haifa-grass,   2157-2158,   700,   ? 
a 


37,- 39.  42,  i2i,  122,  179,  259, 

^  260,  263,  267,  268,  273  Hammamet,  193 

French     impede    research     and  Hannibal    2    181 

travel,  2,  35-36,  38,   186,  223  Harbours',  230,  234 

French  improvement,  267  Harems,  64-74 

French    quarter  of  Tunis,    126,  Hashish,  84-85 


157-162 


Hemp,  84,  151 


French  rudeness,    14,    146,    185,      Heretics,  Moslem,  221 


224-225.  293 
French  servants,  165 
French  spy-mania,  36,  234 
French  tyranny,    4,    30-31, 

36,  37,  224-225 


32, 


Hinterlands,  Mediterranean,  260- 

261 

History,  i-io 
Hotels,  162,  165,  185-186,  233- 

234, 


French   unpopularity,     35,    120,  Houses,  sec  Dvclltnv 

Housetops,  49 

French  vulgarize  and  demoralize  Humt  Suk,  219,  220,  221 

natives,    74,    104,     184,     247,  Hussein,  9 

290-292 

Fruit,   104,    151,    1 6 1,    165,  266,  IMAGINATION,  78,  104 

329  Incense,  96 

Funerals,  80,  142,  233  Industries,  30,  51,   58,    119-120, 

Furniture,  69,  73,  129  222,    243   244,   247   248.   253, 

Future  of  Tripoli,  333  254,  257,  258 


338 


INDEX 


Inhabitants,  original,  i 
Interior  of  A'Yica,  258-263 
Interior  of  Tunisia,  33,  37,  50- 

64,  184-235,  311 
Invocation  of  Saints,  97 
Ironmongers,  120 
Irrigation,  59,  217 
Islam,  92-117,  137,  209,  290 
Italians,  39,  42,    170,   269,  271, 

283-284 
Itinerary,  an,  190,  193 

JAMA'AL,  243 

Janissaries,  9 

Jem,  El,  see  El-Jem 

Jerba  Island,  193,  219-222,  247, 

2S4,  257,  270 
Jews,  28,  32,  35,  90,   too,    101, 

118-126,   129-143,  217,  273, 

289,  328,  331 
Jews,  Leghorn,  118 
Jewellery,  48,  52,  53,  67 
Jinns,  63,  68,  87,  107,   iio-m, 

133,  IS2 
Justice,  109,  125-126,  138,  272- 

274,  275-287 
Justinian,  7 

KADIS,  272,  273-274 

Ka'ids,  27,  28,  125,  224,  272 

Kairwan,  7,  34,  37,  95,  106,  185, 
193,  i96>  197-204,  205,  207, 
209,  212,  238,  240,  247,  248 

Kakawia,  83 

Karagus,  98 

Kasserin,  193 

Kef,  El,  see  El-Kef 

Kerkenna  Islands,  193,  213.  269, 
270 

Khammes,  264 

Khalifas,  28 


Kitchen,  Arab,  73 

Koran,    59,    77,    96,    106,    272, 

294 
Krumirs,  10,  50 

LARKS,  179,  193,  230,   232,   269 
Land,    218,    263-265    (see    also 

Habbus) 

Language,  63,  86-88,  216,  222 
Lavigerie,    Cardinal,     136.     170, 

175,  288 
Laws,  32,  i  25 
Locusts,  81,  311-312 
Louis,  Saint,  170,  179,  180 
Lybian  language,  229 

MAHDIA,  269 

Maktar,  193 

Maltese,  39,  42,  48,  221,  333 

Marionettes,  101 

Markets,  203,  212,  227 

Marriage,  Arab,  64,  65,  76-79 

Marriage,  Jewish,   138,  139-142 

Marsa,  12,  13,  15,  170 

Massinissa,  3 

Matmatas,  60,  61,  193 

Medecine,  74,  86 

Mednin,  62,  121,  193 

Mejba,  29 

Mejerda,  50,  193,  227 

Menagery,  19 

Merabuts,    96,    109,     no,    204, 

227,  244,  330 
Merchants,   87,    236,    237,    239, 

243;  S32 

Milk,  136 

Millet,  M.,  see  Resident 
Ministers  of  the  Bey,  27 
Missionaries,    35-36,     75,     136- 

137,  i75>  2l6 
Mogods,  193 


INDEX 

Ports  of  Carthage,  179 


339 


Mosaics,  in,  229 

Mosques,   94,  95,  98,  122,  198,      Post  Office,  28 
201,  203,  221,  226,  281,  287,      Pottery,  51,  222,  257 

294,  329 

Motor-cars,  190 

Afr/iarsa,  264 

Museum,  176 

Music,  98,  101,  142 

Mitstahal,  80 

RABBIS,  119,  130,  132,  137 
Railways,  37,  170,  193,  197,  226, 

232,  260 
Ramadan,  97-99,  105 


Press  laws,  36,  37 
Priests,  Muhammadan,  93 
Prisons,  281 

Proverbs,  77.  90-91,  311 
Pulps,  271 


NABKUL,  193,  254,  257 

Naturalization,  35 

Nefta,  193 

Negroes.  66,  73,   113,   114,    115,      Religion,  Jewish,  130-137 

143,  329 


OASES,    54-59-    254,    261,    312, 

329  (see  also  Gabes} 
Oil,  82,  268 

Olives,  30,  267-268,  311 
Order  of  the  Blood,  14 

PAGANISM,  221,  330 


Religion,    Muhammadan,  see  Is- 
lam 

Rents,  30 
Resident,  French,  12,  13,  14,  15, 

27,  32 

Revenge,  Arab,  282 
Revoil,  M.,  27 
Rhadames,  222,  259,  260,   261- 

262,  331 


Palaces  of  the  Bey,    IT,   12,   13,      Rhat,  259,  261,  262 


15-24,  276 

Patriarchal  system,  63-64 
Palms,  30,  216 
Palm-wine,  83,  332 
Passports,  36-37,  285 
Penal  laws  against  Jews,  123-124      Russians,  230 
Ptp/os,  52-57 
Phoenicians,  i 
Photography,  94,  105-106 
Phylloxera,  266 
Playfair,  Sir  I,.,  36 
Ploughing,  264 

Police,  36,  105,  284-286,  330 
Poll-tax,  st\'  J /<;//'</ 
Polygamy,  137 
Poor-laws,  Jewish,  125 
Population,  264 


Rhutneracen,  62 
Ritual,  Jewish,  131-132 
Romans,  2,  3,  4,   5,   8,   63.    176, 

1 80,  183,  222 
Rosaries,  132,  217,  273 


SABBATH,  Jewish,  129,  134-135 

Sabra,  204,  209 

Saddlery,  243   245 

Sadiki  College,  289-293 

Sahara,  258-260,  2(12 

Saints,  Jewish,  132    133 

Saints,   Muhammadan,  sec  Mera- 

buts 

Salisbury,  Lord.  10,  43,  44 
Sanctuary.  281    283 


340 


INDEX 


Sandstorm,  218-219 

Sbeitla,  193,  222-223 

Schools,  287-289 

Scipios,  2,  3 

Scorpions,  314-315 

Seats,  66,  67 

Security,  33,  34,  37,  64-65,  198, 

280,  330-331 
Sers,  50 

Servants,  64,  69,  70,  71,  74,  165 
Sfax,  36,   38,  95,  185,  193.  211- 
^  214,  247,  254,  271 
Sheep,  Sahara,  19 
Sheikhs,  28,  104,  108 
Sheshias,  14,  48,  53,  247,  261 
Shnini,  60,  62 
Shops,  119,  129,  151-152,   188, 

214,  254,  255  (see also  Bazaars) 
Shrines,  109 
Sidi  Bu  Said,  163,  170 
Siliana,  50 
Silks,  254,  261 
Skulls,  Tower  of,  220 
Slaves,  64,  65,  77,  243,  264 
Slippers,  48,  54,  67,  78,  96,  102, 

138,  i39,  i47 
Snake-ch  irmers,    112,   152,    155, 

157 

Snakes,  217,  314 
Spaniards,  50,  221,  231 
Sponges,  269-271 
Steamers,  37,  193,  214 
Story-tellers,  98,  152 
Streets,  126,  147,  148-151,  158, 

162,  199,  207,  212,  216,  243, 

328 
Susa,  37,  38,  185.  187,  189,  192, 

i93.  !94,  i97.  209,  212,   247, 

„  2S4 

Swassi,  166,  254 

Synagogues,  130-131 


TAIB  BEY,  15 

Tailors,  119 

Tanning,  247-248 

Tatawin,  62,  193,  261 

Tattooing,  216 

Taxation,  9,  29-30,  125 

Tea,  83 

Tebursuk,  193,  227 

Temples,  223,  226,  229 

Thala,  193,  223-225 

Theatres,  157 

Tides,  221,  269 

Tiles,  49,  66,  68,  198,  257 

Tobacco,  84 

Tombs,  176,  177,  179,  227,  244 

Torture,  30  31 

Touts,  236-238 

Tozer,  193 

Tramways,  37-38,  161,  194,  197, 
203 

Treaty,  Commercial,  43-45 

Tribunals,  125,  126,  272 

Tripoli,  41,  42,  259,  260,  261, 
270,  3°8,  327-333 

Troglodytes,  60-63 

Tuaregs,  63,  71,  259,  260,  262-3 

Tunis,  u,  17,  20-23,  47-5°)  66> 
95, 100-105, 109,  no,  118, 126, 
127,  136,  143,  144-169,  1 80, 
188,  198,  212,  218,  219,  238, 
240,  247,  254,  257,  260,  269 

Turks,  9,  41,  42,  260,  261,  262, 
27°,  328,  330,  331,  332,  333 

UNIVERSITY,  Muhammadan,  294 

VALENSI,  General,  12,  14,  16 

Vandals,  4,  7,  8 

Vermin,  187 

Villages,  58,  210,  215,  219 

Vines,  266-267 


INDEX 


34i 


Vivian,  Mrs.,  36.  59,  65-74,  81, 
99,  102,  103,  117,  175,  188, 
190,  194,  209,  212,  214,  215, 
217,  220,  233,  274-275 

WAILING,  80 

Wages,  264 

Water,    83,    133-134,     iS1"^2, 

265 

Weight-carrying,  161 
Wells,  59,  133,  217,   219,  265- 

266,  301 

Whitewashing,  143 
Wine,  266-267 


Women,  48,  49,  51,  52,  53,  54, 
55,  57,  58,  59,  64,  66,  69,  70, 
71,  72,  73,  74-  75-  76,  89,  91, 
105,  106,  134,  135.  139,  140, 
148,  198,  248,  253,  264,  308 

Woollens,  261 

Works,  public,  28 

YORK,  Duke  of,  13 

ZAGHWAX,  193,  247 
Zama,  23,  193 
Zarzis,  261,  269 
Zawias,  122,  132 


liutlcr  &  Tanner,  The  Sclwooil   Printing  Work;',   lioiiir,  :nul   I 


SERVIA :  THE  POOR  MAN'S  PARADISE 

By    HERBERT    VIVIAN 

A    CHORUS   OF   PRAISE    FROM    THE    PRESS 
THE  MORNING  PAPERS: 

"  Much  fresh  and  pleasant  reading.  Eminently  calculated  to  attract  visitors  to  an  almost 
unknown  country. "  —  Morning  Post. 

"  Sober  and  painstaking.  Not  an  article  of  trade,  from  pigs  to  pig-iron,  but  he  has  studied. 
If  you  want  an  all-round  description  of  the  country,  here  you  have  it.  A  capital  description  of 
Belgrade  and  of  Servian  manners  and  customs  in  town  and  country." — Daily  .\'ews. 

"  Brightly  written.  An  interesting  sketch  of  Servian  manners  and  customs.  The  fruit  of 
much  useful  observation." — Times. 

"  Describes  with  quick  observation  and  in  vivid,  pithy  terms.  An  able  and  opportune  book." — 
Standard. 

THE  EVENING  PAPERS: 

"  We  can  scarcely  recall  a  single  volume  of  travel  which  bore  witness  to  such  wide  research, 
such  untiring  determination  to  get  at  the  heart  of  things,  and  so  sincere  a  judgment  upon  topics 
of  rare  difficulty  and  delicacy.  His  pen-pictures  are  vivid,  spirited  :  they  are  always  as  full  of 
life  as  his  narrative  is  the  reverse  of  dull.  Despite  his  vivacity,  Mr.  Vivian  has  not  shrunk  from 
the  sterner  aspects  of  his  task.  His  book  from  start  to  finish  is  clearly  written,  well  constructed, 
and  eminently  readable.  A  highly  creditable  piece  of  work,  and  one  that  should  secure  its 
author  attention  in  the  future  as  a  serious  and  intelligent  student  of  political  sociology." — 
St.  /attics'  Gazette. 

"Contains  much  sober  and  instructive  fact.  Substantial  and  well  written." — Westminster 
Gazette. 

"  Comprehensive  and  well  written.  A  mass  of  valuable  information.  Thoroughly  interesting 
and  instructive." — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

"  Provides  an  excellent  guide-book.  Mr.  Vivian  is  within  his  right  in  claiming  for  himself 
something  of  an  authority's  rank.  He  has  produced  a  meritorious  work,  which  deserves  to  be 
read  and  thought  over." — Globe. 

"  An  admirable  account  of  the  country  His  description  of  Belgrade  is  charmingly  written." 
— Echo. 

WEEKLY  PAPERS: 

"  Fresh  and  interesting.  Does  not  encumber  his  pages  with  indigestible  material.  The  reader 
can  without  effort  enjoy  the  lively  narrative.  He  delights  the  reader.''  —  Speaker. 

"Its  many  excellences.  Contrives  to  sustain  our  interest  from  the  frontispiece  to  the  finish. 
His  descriptions  of  places  and  people  are  works  of  art  in  their  way  and  bring  home  to  us  what 
he  has  seen  more  vividly  than  the  best  imaginable  cinematograph.  Possesses  the  rare  gift  of 
maintaining  his  vivacity  even  when  dealing  with  the  most  prosaic  subjects.  His  particular 
genius.  Is  likely  to  remain  the  standard  work  upon  the  subject." — Saturday  Rez'ie"M. 

"  Is  complete  and  was  needed.     Strong  general  approval."- — Athenieuin. 

"  Writes  freshly." — Academy. 

"  Written  with  interest  and  enthusiasm.     Much  pleasant  gossip." — Guardian. 

"  An  entertaining  book  of  travel.  Facts  in  plenty.  Mr.  Vivian  succeeds  in  making  chapters 
on  Political  Parties,  Agriculture.  Finance,  and  other  topics  of  the  kind  very  readable,  while 
those  which  concern  more  nearly  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people  are  quite  amusing." — 
World. 

"  Will  doubtless  be  read  with  interest.  Of  special  importance  to  British  manufacturers. 
Gives  a  very  good  account  of  the  kingdom." — Field. 

"  Hreezy  ignorance.      Fulsome  adulation  aggravated  by  slander  of  the  dead." — Literature. 

"Delightful.  Sparkling.  Deserves  to  take  a  high  place  among  the  literature  of  travel." — 
Pearson's  Weekly. 

PROVINCIAL  PAPERS: 

"  Deserves  honourable  mention  for  his  brave  and  patient  mastery  of  social  statistics." — Leeds 
Mercury. 

"  Pleasant  reading.  Brightly,  often  wittily  written.  Vivid  and  entertaining." — XfancJiestcr 
Guardian. 

"  Careful  personal  observation.  Facts  marshalled  in  a  systematic  and  useful  manner.'1 — 
Aiw/W  Daily  Post. 

"  Vastly  readable.  Substantially  useful  and  valuable.  K\idenlly  had  his  eyes  about  him. 
Agreeable  and  picturesque  pages  of  a  thoroughly  enjoyable  book."— tj/asgiti'  Herald. 

"  Interesting  and  attractive.  A  work  for  which  his  readers  will  be  grateful." ---Sheffield  D.iii'v 
Tc/ct.-ra/>/t. 

"  A  book  which  one  can  read  with  interest  and  profit.  Certainly  not  dull."—  -.\\>tts  Daily 
Guardian. 

YANKEE  PAPERS: 

"  There  are  no  illustrations  in  this  most  intelligent  and  well-made  volume,  but  illustrations 
arc  not  needed.  F.vcry  page  is  an  illustration  in  itself  and  sets  a  scene  before  the  reader's  eyes 
which  he  can  readily  realise.  Most  instructive  and  interesting."  -AY:c  )'.»X  Littrar\  World. 

"Of  paramount  interest."     listen  Daily  Advertiser. 

"  Of  very  great  interest  and  value."  —l'/iic<ig<>  Ktcord. 

"  Sweet  enthusiasm.  Interesting  and  ought  to  be  specially  useful  in  Knglaml."-  .\Vrc  )',•>£ 
Tribune. 

"  Very  interesting.     A  hand  book  for  study  as  well  as  for  reading.'  —  AVrc  )",»£  Critic . 

"  Interesting  and  useful." — Dial. 


123757     5 


